Playground builders ride for mental health

A few months ago, Ben van Ryt was having a chat with one of his employees at his Perth-based playground factory. Now they’ve raised $15,000 riding their bikes from work, to Busselton.

It’s all in an effort to improve mental health in the construction industry. 190 construction workers take their own lives every year, and countless others experience issues with their mental health.

MATES In Construction is one charity attempting to address the problem by encouraging men to talk through their concerns. Mr van Ryt said it’s an idea he’s embraced wholeheartedly in his workplace, so supporting their cause was a no brainer.

“I’ve got amazing employees that work for me, and they’re young guys. It was something I felt we could invest time and effort into, just reaching out to each other and making sure everyone’s ok.

“It’s easier to tackle something head on with a couple of you, rather than going in blind.”

“Rather than it being behind closed doors, and a bit of a voodoo, lets openly discuss. Make sure we can talk to our friends and family about how we’re doing.”

An avid mountain biker, he pulled together 12 of the factory staff for the ambitious ride, and quickly found clients and subcontractors wanted to get involved. 23 riders set off on Thursday morning on a 215km journey.

“We’re involving lots of people, and having a chat along the way, and checking in with people we’ve dealt with over the years, typically discussing work and contracts only. Now we’re actually having a deep, meaningful discussion.”

Most involved are not regular cyclists. Some, Mr van Ryt said, had never ridden more than a few kilometres at a time before hitting the highway. But, just as they support each other in the workplace, the more experienced riders got them through.

“We managed to will them the whole way, fed them full of lollies and sugar and gave them a push up the hills, and we managed to get here.”

The only setback they had was when a driver on the Forrest Highway rear-ended their pilot car. Nobody was injured, but the mountain bikes on the back were all severely bent.

“We had our mountain bikes, which we were taking down to spend the weekend in the south west mountain biking, and now they’re bashed up.”

“It was our main concern that all our participants are safe, and we achieved that, but a bit disappointed in some of the road users.”

The group has, at time of writing, raised $15,874 for MATES in Construction. They set a rather ambitious goal of $30,000, but with such a short campaign, Mr van Ryt said he’s keen to go again next year to get there.

“It’s just been remarkable, and it’s all happened within the past two or three weeks,” he said.

“There’s so many causes out there that resonate with me and our employees, and there’s people who can do with our support, so why not?

“Next year, bigger and better.”

If you’d like to chip in to support their cause, you can join 124 others in donating on their MyCause page.

If you’re having a tough time, there are people who will listen. Call Mensline on 1300 78 99 78, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.