Take the challenge and push for better mental health services

Whether you accomplish the target of 3249 push-ups, or substitute those for sit-ups, squats, tailored exercises or even aim for half the target at 1625, everyone has been invited to take on the challenge.

Since 2017, The Push-Up Challenge has raised over $40million for mental health programs and services and engaged more than 500,000 people to push for better mental health.

Each day from June 5 to 28, articipants will receive a different push-up target which corresponds to an important Mental Health Fact to help improve awareness and spark thousands of potentially life-saving chats between mates.

Community engagement officer for headspace Bega, Carly McDonald, said by signing up to raise money with a specialised link, the funds can go directly back into the community to help people on the ground.

The 3249 push-ups in the 24-day challenge correspond to the tragic number of lives lost to suicide in Australia in 2022.

Ms McDonald said she was ready for the challenge, having even joined the headspace Bega team group for the June-long fundraising event, yet she was still startled by the number.

"That is a startling number, isn't it.

"That's something like nine suicides per day in Australia, so it's definitely a huge issue, and we all know that, and the numbers are really quite shocking," she said.

"And we also know that each of those numbers is a person, and that person and the families and communities around that person. There is a lot of pain.

"It's really important that these things [like the Push-Up Challenge] happen to raise awareness and bolster local services.

"Raising funds is great, that's fantastic, but having those conversations is really important," she said.

For more information or to register, click here