MAYA Raschel knows that exercise is good for your mental health but she is going to take that idea to the extreme in September.
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Ms Raschel is aiming to raise $10,000 to develop physical activity programs for people with mental illness in south-west Victoria and she plans to do this by riding her bicycle from Perth to Warrnambool.
“I’m not a very fast rider (but) I’m hoping for an average of 100-120 kilometres a day,” she said.
“I’ve been doing more swimming than cycling, so I stay pretty fit, but I’ve been riding my bike four days a week and do one long ride ... that’s anywhere between two and four hours.”
The first few legs across the Nullabor Plain will be particularly tricky, she conceded, and not only because of the road trains.
“It’s a big expanse of nothing and everything at the same time – it can really bring you down or it can free your mind,” she said.
Ms Raschel will be followed by a support vehicle driven be her friend Linda Wright, plus her dog Shobie will be along for the ride.
The target of $10,000 will be used to purchase mobile exercise equipment such as free weights, resistance bands, exercise mats, and soccer balls, to be used in activity programs in Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton and Camperdown.
Ms Raschel, who has worked with WRAD and South West Healthcare Mental Health Services, ran a pilot exercise program for people with mental illness that did away with the eligibility requirements that often prevented people from taking part in such programs – the “only prerequisite was that you had some sort of mental health issue”, she said.
She said the program proved a success, attracting people dealing with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and other conditions.
The funds she hopes to raise will not only buy equipment, but hopefully keep the program affordable.
“There are lots of benefits from exercise – it releases adrenalin and can a strong impact on your mental state,” Ms Raschel said.
“You feel better about yourself and more motivated, your meeting people in a group setting and doing team activities, and it all helps with recovery.”
Ms Raschel’s 3,018km bicycle journey starts on September 16 and is expected to last for six or seven weeks.
She has a crowdfunding campaign running on Ozcrowd called Maya’s Mission – Riding For Recovery, which has raised over $2600 so far.
The Capitol Cinema in Warrnambool is screening Amy – the documentary about the life of musician Amy Winehouse – on Tuesday at 6.30pm to also raise money for the project.
