Tradies Breakfast in honour of Perry Meredith to be held at Dubbo's Ingenia Gardens

Created by the Meredith family following the death of Perry in 2016, the breakfast was created to help raise awareness around mental health and get young people together to have a chat and learn about the resources available to them.

Seeing those people come together each year and have those conversations means a huge amount to Perry's father, Mark, who is the driving force behind the event along with mental health organisation LIVIN.

"We decided to do something very proactive, in memory of him of course," Mark said.

"Cliches as they may be, and you hear the 'are you OK?' and 'it ain't weak to speak' and the things like that, but it encourages someone, whether they're a family member or friend or mate on the footy field or a colleague at work, to just say 'I'm not doing really good' and open that conversation and dialogue.

"It's a two-way street, it's important for us as a listener to be active in that role and recognise signs."

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Starting from around 7am and running through to the early afternoon or as long as people want to stay, the breakfast will be held on Saturday, April 15 at Ingenia Gardens.

Pippa Downey, the senior community manager at the retirement village, was someone extremely close to Perry and through her, members of Ingenia Gardens make craft and bric-a-brac which will be available on the morning.

There will be sausage sandwiches, bacon and egg rolls, coffee and cakes and, most importantly for so many there, the chance to chat about Perry again.

Perry was a tradie in town and a well-known rugby league player for the Macquarie Raiders, and connecting with others in that position is a huge motivation for the Merediths and LIVIN.

"It's wonderful to see groups of people, friends and family and others, come together and you see them mingling and maybe talking about Pez or remembering a funny time but it's about opening that conversation in relation to mental health," Mark, a detective with the NSW Police, said.

"I put one of his (Perry's) tradie shirts on every year, even though he'd probably laugh at me for being hopeless with a hammer or something.

"But it's good to see that involvement. I love it. And it's amazing so many people come up to me on that day and tell me stories about Perry that (my wife) Liz and I didn't know.

"They're about when he has helped someone. He's taken a young apprentice on or gave someone some wok back then or he encouraged someone to train hard to achieve better results on the footy field.

"The little stories that have come out over the years make you so proud."

Many of Perry's close friends come each year and while that in itself means a huge amount to the Meredith family, their connection runs much deeper.

"I've seen it (issue of mental health) for 35 or 36 years in this job, policing, and then to be affected by that so close to home with Pez, it's close to my heart," Mark said.

"It's so rewarding in the sense that we're doing something that is meaningful. To see all his mates, and they're all so close-knit and they've involved Liz and I and our family in everything they do growing up so it's like Pez is still around. It's wonderful, it really, really is."

Mark paid tribute to LIVIN, who have been a long-term partner of the event and thrown a huge amount of resources at it each year.

LIVIN promotes the 'it ain't weak to speak' message and works to break the stigma around mental health.

Holding the breakfast during the COVID years was difficult but it's hoped the 2023 edition will prove popular, especially given it will be held the same weekend Dubbo rugby league sides Macquarie and CYMS start their Peter McDonald Premiership campaigns.

Just last week CYMS ran a mental health and well-being seminar in conjunction with the St John's junior club while Macquarie does plenty each year, especially during the annual Perry Meredith round.

Events like that are proof of the mental health conversation no longer being seen as taboo, while Bruno Efoti's Dubbo organisation Tradies In Sight is another which is making a real impact, particularly around young men in the community.

"The expansion of that space is remarkable," Mark said.

"Before, it was sensitive stuff and it doesn't need to be. We need to talk about it and we won't save other people or help them if we don't talk about these things.

"You can see now we are now coming out and talking about it and promoting those support agencies and seminars and getting into schools early and that early intervention is so important and I want to see more of that.

"PTSD for police and emergency services, for all of us in relation to different things we come across as human beings we're not used to.

"But gone are the days you'll solve things with a schooner glass. It's not the right medicine. This is."

The annual breakfast will be held from 7am on Saturday, April 15, at Ingenia Gardens on Wheelers Lane.

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