The 10th Conquer the Corrugations walk will aim to bring conquerors of the past and present together for a special reunion in September. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
What started as a humble walking event to honour a boy who lost his battle with mental health has now grown into an entire support network for people across Cape York and beyond.
Conquer the Corrugations will celebrate 10 years of raising mental health awareness and will encourage participants to “walk and talk” openly about their struggles when they lace up their shoes and hit the red dirt on 28-29 September.
Co-founder Emma Jackson said it had been touching to see participants overcome their personal challenges and connect with one another over the past decade, adding she would love to see some old faces for the milestone anniversary walk.
“It would be wonderful to see a lot of past conquerors come together for the tenth walk, and it’d be almost like a reunion,” she said.
The inaugural walk was small and personal, but now attracts people affected by mental health struggles and their supporters from across the region, as well as those in Victoria and East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
“The work initially began to honour my nephew and to bring together a group of people to remember him,” Ms Jackson said.
“Each year, it grew into remembering and honouring other people across the Cape communities who’ve lost to mental health challenges or been affected by mental health challenges, and we realised that there were a lot more people impacted than we ever thought.
“Through Conquer attracting more people and growing in numbers, it grew in strength, so we were able to offer more support and weave a stronger mental health element through it by bringing on Queensland Health, RDFS (Royal Flying Doctor Service), Apunipima and mental health professionals who were then able to offer more support.”
This year, Conquer the Corrugations will also host a gala event, themed Diamonds in the Dust, to celebrate everyone who contributed to the event since it began in 2014.
“It’s to acknowledge and thank those who supported the walk and participated in the walk, and also really acknowledge the sponsors, because it’s a completely free event,” Ms Jackson said.
“It’s a network now, it’s not just an annual walk; it’s created a huge team of people behind the scenes who have become good friends who pull the event together, it’s quite incredible.”
Registrations for the 2024 walk are now open on the Conquer the Corrugations website and will close on 14 September.
