Gary Lane urges young veterans to socially connect
Fed up with losing his mates to suicide, Townsville RAAF veteran Gary Lane is stepping up his support to change that narrative for others.
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Fed up with losing his mates to suicide, Townsville RAAF veteran Gary Lane is stepping up his support to change that narrative for others.
Mr Lane served in the RAAF as an avionics technician for a decade and deployed to South East Asia multiple times.
He said he’s watched mates go “downhill” over the years and wanted to bring awareness to post service injuries through events like Veterans Mental Health week (Oct 24 – Nov 1).
“I think a lot of us can spot it now when someone’s not doing too good and they’ll be giving their stuff away or not getting their bum off the couch,” Mr Lane.
“So its up to the rest of us to have a chat and get them away even if its for events like this week or camping in the bush.
“It’s about that social connection and we’re not getting younger so we need to turn to the younger veterans to step up or we’ll have clubs you might as well close the door on.”
Mr Lane has organised the Townsville Show and Shine day to cap off the week of events to be held on Nov 1 from 8am to 12pm at Townsville RSL.
He said the car show has been met with a huge amount of interest and expected to display people’s prized possessions which came in all shapes, sizes, motors and price tags.
Other Veterans Health Week events include a darts and pool competition, TPI Golf Day and Diggers Lunch, fishing competition and Mates 4 Mates Open Day at their Aitkenvale centre on Saturday Oct 31.
For a full list of events and information, visit Townsville RSL Sub Branch Facebook page.
Originally published as Gary Lane urges young veterans to socially connect