A couple of hundred motorcycles tearing down the highway is an intimidating sight. But the cuddly stuffed dog attached to this fleet goes ways to break the scary stigma.
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That's why he's there. He's doing the heavy lifting in getting a conversation started as riders across the nation make their annual Black Dog Ride for suicide prevention on the last weekend of March.
This year, the Riverina riders will start their journey from the Sturt Highway at Gumly on Sunday. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, riders are being asked to register online to help organisers keep track of numbers.
"We had 209 riders last year, we're expecting about that 200-mark again this year," said day-ride organiser Graham "Bear" Falconer.
The stuffed dog is known as Winston and is named for the British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill who was said to have called his dark moods his 'black dog' companion.
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Mr Falconer's dog has done about 230,000 kilometres, travelling across the nation about five times so far.
"I've had my little Winston on the back of my motorbike for so long, he's done thousands of kilometres, he's no longer black he's turning white from it," Mr Falconer said.
"People see the dog and they'll come up to you and talk for hours. If I walk down the street in my bike leathers, I don't get that reaction, but this little dog does.
"The stigma is still out there to talk about mental health, people seem more comfortable to talk with a stranger they may never see again rather than their mates down at the pub."
Mr Falconer and his wife Nerolie have been personally involved with the suicide prevention initiative since about 2009. Since 2014, they have been involved in the Wagga ride.
Every year, Mr Falconer said, he aims to help at least one person, and hopefully save a life.
"It's the waste of young lives that gets to me," he said.
"You can be sitting next to someone and you don't know how broken they are. If your mate had a broken arm, you'd help them, but so often when they're going through depression everyone runs away. But there is help."
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He cannot count how many have approached him to talk about their struggles over the years, but, he said, he is grateful for every single story he's heard.
"We don't always know how to ask for help, and that's what we're here for, to say there is help out there," he said.
"The more people who know there's hope and the more who have a pathway to help, that's why we do it."
If you or someone you know needs help, contact:
- Lifeline - 13 11 14
- Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467
- Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
- MensLine Australia - 1300 78 99 78