Amber Dunstan

IT'S OFFICIAL.

My Fundraising Page

TL;DR: I’m sitting silently in a tiny square for 20 hours to raise money for Youth Mental Health. It’s uncomfortable on purpose. Please donate if you can 💛

The longer version… In just a few short months, I’ll be heading over to Perth to join 400 other participants in a challenge to raise awareness for Youth Mental Health.

💪 The Challenge:

The 20 Hour Challenge involves sitting within a 2m x 2m square from 4am until Midnight (okay, sounds easy) with no technology (wait, what?) and no talking (alright, now I’m worried!)

All I will have is my own thoughts, a journal and a chair to sit on. I won’t be alone – I’ll even have my two sisters right there silently by my side! But I know what it’s like to FEEL alone. And this challenge will be a little reminder of what it’s like to struggle with mental health. A reminder of times before I knew how to articulate my emotions, before I could afford to invest in myself (and in therapy), before I learnt how to ask for help and to accept it.

✨ Why am I doing this? Devastatingly, suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people aged 15-44. And, according to the Mental Health Commission 2022, only 2% of mental health funding goes towards prevention. 20Talk are a mental health charity that aims to make valuable resources relatable and accessible. By supporting education for young people, by young people, we can improve mental health literacy, remove harmful stigma, and encourage people to seek help before it’s too late.

🖤 I’m doing this because mental health isn’t theoretical for me. I’ve had more than my fair share of dark and difficult seasons where I looked fine on the outside but was quietly struggling on the inside. I was lucky - I eventually had access to support, education, and the tools to understand my own brain a little better. And now, I’m able to maintain my mental health by taking care of myself, utilising tools and strategies, and relying on the support of those closest to me. Not everyone gets that chance early enough — and some never get it at all. If sitting in a 2m x 2m square for 20 hours helps even one young person feel less alone, more understood, or brave enough to speak up, then it’s worth every awkward, silent minute.

🙏 What happens with your donation?

$200 puts a young adult (18-30) through a one-day Mental Health Maintenance course. This training provides practical tools and skills to tackle life’s challenges. (Life hacks? Yes, please!)

$1,000 helps us 20Talk in reaching 80,000 people online with a targeted social media ad campaign. This gets people thinking about mental health education, and can lead to important conversations.

$120 purchases a physical 20Talk banner that has a positive reflection reminder on it. This banner will be installed on a fence with high car and pedestrian traffic.

❤️ If you’ve ever worried about a friend, a sibling, a child, or even your younger self — this cause is for you. Mental health education saves lives, not through big dramatic moments, but through earlier conversations, better understanding, and knowing what to do before things reach crisis point.

🫶 If you’re still reading - Thank you for taking the time to stick with me! If you choose to donate to this cause, I really appreciate any amount you can afford to give. Otherwise, please do me the favour of chatting to a friend about this, sharing resources to someone in need, or just simply giving your mate a hug and reminding them IT AIN’T WEAK TO SPEAK.

Thanks again and lots of love! ✌️