Hitchhiking Heroes:
Kiwi mates' epic mental health mission
TWe wanted to get people talking about mental health to try and remove the stigma that talking about it isn’t okay Brogan Collins
wo mates who met through McDonald’s Kihikihi Speedway, Brogan Collins and Steven Payne, recently hitchhiked from Te Awamutu to Queenstown to raise funds for Rural Support.
They called their journey the Road to Help.
Collins completed the Road to Help solo to Invercargill last year, taking 51.5 hours.
Payne jumped on board for the 2024 edition and their trek was complete within two days.
“We wanted to get people talking about mental health to try and remove the stigma that talking about it isn’t okay. People look at it as a burden whereas bottling it up is worse,” Collins said.
“It was about talking about mental health and encouraging other people to as well.
“I went with Rural Support because they had been helping a friend of mine who unfortunately ended his life last year. I wanted to give back to them so they can continue to help people.”
The Rural Support Trusts have local, rural people who know from experience that pressures can mount up.
Their networks and training can help with all kinds of situations, and help you get through current challenges.
Collins said funding isn’t strong for mental health in New Zealand. The more we can individually do to help, the better.
They began their journey at 7.15am
on Tuesday, February 6 and finished at 12.20am on Thursday, February 8 thanks to generous drivers along the way.
The duo didn’t have to travel a lot on foot. The furthest they walked was a scenic route from one end of Kaikoura to the other.
“We knew that hitchhiking solo would be a lot easier than hitchhiking as two males. We thought we’d be less
likely to get rides. I guess it comes down to a safety thing for a lot of people - which is completely understandable,” Collins said.
“We tried not to pre-organise anything, that defeats the purpose of the challenge.”
The highlight of their journey was the people they met. There were people from all walks of life; some locals and some tourists.
Several people were open to talking about their mental health struggles.
“People are starting to open up about these things which is quite cool for us. We talked about that a lot afterwards,” Collins said.
“It’s not something people choose. Every person that we caught a ride with, we talked to them about it in some form. We didn’t pressure anyone into talking.
“We wanted to restore faith that people can help people for nothing.”
Josh Cozens of Legacy Spares kindly donated money to help Collins and Payne on their journey.
“At random, we rewarded people for giving us rides. Slipping them some cash to buy some gas or a coffee,” Collins said.
Collins’ message to anyone interested in fundraising for mental health is, “Don’t be shy just jump in and do it. Whether it’s $1 or a $1 million, it all helps.”
The pair are ready to take on the challenge again next year, with something “similar but different” in the pipeline.
It’s not too late to donate to the cause.
For more information, visit givealittle.co.nz/fundraiser/ road-to-help or check out road to help on Facebook.