Adventurous teams dashed around Port Macquarie testing their minds during the annual Amazing Race For Your Head Space on Wednesday.
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The activities competition was organised by Headspace Port Macquarie, taking inspiration from the international team racing program, The Amazing Race.
The race around Port Macquarie CBD featured clues, detours and challenges including walking a line with a frisbee on your head and headphone charades.
Headspace Port Macquarie youth reference group member Katrina Hatton said the event was about promoting community awareness for mental health support.
"The whole day is about raising awareness, hopefully people who see us will do a bit of research and get that support," she said.
"These support programs are a way for people to not feel alone. They may not be comfortable speaking to friends or family or people they know.
"If this service is available they can speak freely and get a bit of feedback or just some support."
The psychology graduate said she has witnessed the challenges of mental health issues first hand after volunteering in Gosford during 2017 and now Port Macquarie in January this year.
"I've done my degree in psychology and I was trying to find a way to get into the community and help out a bit. I saw there was an opportunity to be in the youth reference group from Gosford so I joined up," she said.
"I volunteered for some events in Gosford and in Port Macquarie at Luminosity where we had lots of young people listening to influential speakers.
"I do see mental health a lot with the volunteers when people share their mental health stories and what their family have gone through.
"I see mental health now more through volunteering than I have before. I find that it's more important to volunteer at events like this to get the word out.
"I've seen how it impacts on family and friends. I guess this is my way of giving back to people that I don't even know and being there to help them."
I've seen how it impacts on family and friends, I guess this is my way of giving back to people that I don't even know and being there to help them.
- Katrina Hatton
At each station of the race participants complete activities around one of Headspace's seven steps to good mental health.
The event was part of National Headspace Day and celebrates Mental Health Month with live music, food and more than $1000 in prizes.
Race participant and Mid North Coast Kidney Collaborative team member Ro Stirling-Kelly said her team was also supporting improving renal health across the region.
"We want to really spread the word not only that kidney disease is a really big problem in Australia, especially for our indigenous people but when you are living with the disease it does affect you mentally," she said.
"To be a young person who has to go to dialysis for four hours for three times a week, that's fairly debilitating in regards to your social life when you're 19 years old.
"We're also talking about supporting organ donation and asking 'could you save someone's life?'."
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