Jane Berryman

Jane is taking on the 20-hour challenge to support youth mental health and raise awareness about the importance of prevention.

My why

Hi friends I’m taking on 20hrs for 20talk this year. No phone, no distractions and no talking for 20 hours, whilst sitting with 400 other people doing the same thing, in a 2m by 2m allocated spot. If you know me well, you’ll know this is going to be a real challenge! This is going to be haaaaaard. The cause is raising funds and awareness for the mental health of young people with suicide being the leading cause of death for people 15yrs - 44yrs in Australia.

This is pretty huge for me. This last couple of years I’ve beaten the battle of depression. Around the start of this process, Sue and I lost our good friend to mental health. She was 38, a psychologist who worked with young people with eating disorders. I sat with her just four days before she left us. In life and in death I have learned so much from her. Grief catches me at random moments.

This challenge I am doing in her memory. She had a young daughter who she was mindful of, with her exposure to technology with (they went to the library to hire DVDs before getting Netflix even) and encouraged healthy relationships with food and movement with.

This is for Janelle and those young people in her books, who relied on her. Mental health in Australia is critically underfunded and this is a small but really uncomfortable thing that I can do.

Thank you in advance for any contribution you can make.