YOUNG ACHIEVERS HELPING OTHERS
TOOWOOMBA carpenter Edward Ross and his Brisbane-based mate Daniel Allen were nominated alongside four other Queenslanders for the state’s Australian of the Year Awards.
The tradies first met on a building site in 2014 and identified a gap surrounding mental health in Australia.
Launching social enterprise Trade Mutt Workwear in 2018, the duo has released countless colourful designs to help make tradies feel and look great at work and reduce the rate of blue-collar suicide.
The loud and vibrant shirts, which serve as a catalyst for conversation, are designed to encourage other blokes (and women) to open up, talk about mental health and reduce stigma.
In 2020, the two mates started TIACS, offering early intervention counselling services. It has assisted more than 12,000 tradies to date.
Mr Ross, who attended boarding schools in Toowoomba and Brisbane, has since returned to the Garden City, where he lives with his wife and a sausage dog.
Meanwhile, co-founder of The VacSeen Project Jeremy Hunt was nominated as Queensland’s Young Australian of the Year.
The project, which started in 2020, helps people experiencing homelessness and other high-risk groups access vaccines for free.
Within its first four months, the initiative supplied free flu shots to 200 people from marginalised communities.
The former medicine student has also distributed free Covid-19 and flu vaccines to more than 800 people and 75 clinics through the project.
He was also recognised as Brisbane’s Young Citizen of the Year at the 2022 Lord Mayor’s Australia Day Awards.
A spokeswoman for the awards said Mr Hunt currently resides in Toowoomba.