The Black Dog Ride Top End campaign aims to help save lives

The NSW leg of the Black Dog Ride’s 2018 Top End mental health campaign will roll out at Dubbo on Friday, August 10.

The wider community invited to attend the event at the Macquarie Street rotunda, which will begin about 8am, with breakfast and speeches.

Riders will depart Dubbo approximately 10am.

More than 80 riders have come from all over the state including the North Coast, Canberra, Dubbo and Bourke.

They range in ages from 38 to 73 years, and will travel for eight days stopping in towns including Coonamble, Lightning Ridge, Roma, Emerald, Camooweal, Katherine and Darwin.

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Dubbo riders Greg Markwick and Michael Blackett are looking forward to the trip.

“They (the riders) are a great group of like-minded people and everybody’s there for the right reasons,” Mr Markwick said.

“We might share stories.. you get a real insight into how people have survived and triumphed (through mental illness.”

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Mr Markwick has been involved in the Black Dog Ride since 2014 and the Dubbo to Darwin trip will be Mr Blackett’s second event.

“A lot of the people who are involved on the ride, probably 70 per cent, have some lived experience of depression or suicide, either in their own life or friends and family,” Mr Markwick said.

“So there’s a deep dedication to it in terms of the participants. It’s not just a ride in the park for a lot of them. They’re very committed to what’s going on.”

Mr Markwick said the ride boils down to the fact that their goal is to start conversations.

“If conversations are started solutions can be found and lives can be saved,” he said.

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While stopping through the towns, the riders aim to spread the message that it is okay to talk about mental health.

“We don’t know 100 per cent what the impact is when we go through a town, but we’ll talk to a lot of people and hand out contacts…,” Mr Markwick said.

“If somebody has a conversation with one person and it’s a good outcome, then that’s fantastic.”

With 99.8 per cent of NSW impacted by drought, rural mental health has become a timely issue.

“If we can help someone along the road then that will be lovely,” Mr Markwick said.

On Friday, August 17, the NSW riders will meet up in Katherine with more than 200 other Black Dog Riders from across the country for the final leg to Darwin.