The Welch family — Jade, Frankie, Ben and Solomon — at Garden Park, Cohuna. Photos: Jordan Townrow.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Echuca’s Ben ‘Mino’ Welch stopped by Cohuna on the fourth day of his 444 fundraiser run on Thursday, March 6.
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Starting the day at around 3am in Lake Charm, Ben ran 51km into town before noon, and could be seen resting briefly in the shade at Garden Park surrounded by his team.
While the temperature was tipping above 30°C, Ben said the day was going well.
“It’s been good. I’ve had good support, and had a lot of numbers this morning,” he said.
“A lot of people travelled to Kerang and met us there, and two other guys started with us at Lake Charm.”
Ben had around 25km to go before reaching Gunbower, the final stop of the day, and set off down the Murray Valley Hwy around 12.30pm.
Ben was cheered on by local students and other well-wishers from the community as he set off towards Gunbower.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Leitchville-Gunbower and Echuca’s Murray Bombers are holding a practice match tonight in Gunbower, where the crowd will cheer Ben into town.
A community event and sausage sizzle was held in the park, attended by a large group of residents and students from Cohuna Consolidated School and St Mary’s Cohuna.
Ben thanked the students for their support, encouraging them to look after each other and check in with their friends.
Students from St Mary’s Cohuna and Cohuna Consolidated School attended to support Ben on his run.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Jake Preston, Cal Butcher, Mitch Lourey, Gerrin McCann, and Brett Sands.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Daisy McGlone, Jenna Grubb, Sam Cooke, Tina Dickinson, Kate Burmester, and Tanah Peacock.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Connor Gibbins and Hayley Neuschafer from headspace Swan Hill had a stall at the event, promoting outreach of the service.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Representatives from Northern District Community Health and headspace Swan Hill addressed the crowd after Ben had set off.
headspace Swan Hill manager Hayley Neuschafer thanked Ben for his outstanding fundraising efforts, and said the money donated would go towards outreach.
Ms Neuschafer said in the last financial quarter, almost half of young people accessing the service came from smaller towns outside of Swan Hill, like Cohuna.
Hayley Neuschafer spoke about headspace Swan Hill’s fruitful efforts to engage smaller towns near Swan Hill.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
NDCH youth programs coordinator Matt Allan spoke about his enthusiasm for increased mental health awareness among younger generations.
Matt Allan addressing the crowd and local students about the importance of mental health awareness.
Photo by
Jordan Townrow
Ben is running 380km over four days, four hours, and 44 minutes in honour of his two brothers, Jai and Zac, with 444 being Zac’s favourite number.
The run is planned to finish at 4.44pm on Friday, March 7, when Ben arrives at Vic Park, Echuca.
As of Thursday afternoon, The 444 Run GoFundMe had raised more than $350,000, with all funds going towards headspace centres in Echuca, Swan Hill and Mildura.
21°C