Emily Roberts

20 Hours of Silence and Reflection for Youth Mental Health

I'm taking on the 20 Hours For 20Talk Challenge - not your average challenge or marathon, but hear me out. For 20 hours, I'll be sitting in a 2x2 metre square in a warehouse alongside 400 other participants with no talking and no technology. All I'm allowed to bring are the essentials:  a chair, sleeping mat, journal, water, and food that I can only eat every 6 hours. Absolutely zero distractions. (Try not to be too jealous.)

The idea is to strip everything back and sit alone with your thoughts, a small nod to the isolation and weight that someone navigating mental health challenges might carry every single day. It's a challenge I'm taking on to stand alongside those people.

So why am I doing this?

We've all been touched by mental health in some way and yet the statistics are still pretty alarming:

• Suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people aged 15–44
• Only 2% of mental health funding goes towards prevention (Mental Health Commission 2022)

I'm doing this challenge to help turn those numbers around.  Every dollar raised goes to 20Talk - a mental health charity that makes education genuinely accessible and relatable, built by young people for young people. Here's what your support makes possible:

• $120 puts a young person through a full day Mental Health Maintenance course
• $500 Provides a mental health session for 100 high school students.
• Your donation helps grow their online resources and 60,000+ strong social media community
• It also funds large scale, interactive mental health events that bring these conversations to life

What is Mental Health Maintenance?

MHM is a free, one day workshop designed with industry experts to help people better understand their own wellbeing and learn practical ways to look after it before things reach crisis point. It's all about improving mental health literacy, reducing stigma, and making it easier to ask for help. To find out more, head to www.20talk.com.au.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for donating if you can. Hopefully this little challenge can help change someone's life.

Love you all and thanks again! 💛