Toowoomba scavenger hike on Mt Peel outside Drayton to raise funds for mental health services

Linda Barton lost her son Nick to suicide in 2016, but found solace and comfort through hiking. Now she’s turning her passion for bushwalking into a special fundraiser for mental health services.

Mt Peel Scavenger hike to raise awareness of mental health. Linda Barton.

Hiking became an incredible healing activity for Linda Barton to help her cope with the loss of her son Nick to suicide in 2016, and now she’s turning that passion into a fundraiser.

Mrs Barton and the Westbrook Focus Group will host a special scavenger hike on Mt Peel outside Drayton next month, with all money raised going to Lifeline Darling Downs.

Run over the course of a week from February 20, participants can work alone or in teams to find key natural landmarks and photograph them.

Dubbed the “Hike to Heal”, Mrs Barton said the event would also be used to open up the conversation around mental health and suicide.

Mt Peel Scavenger hike to raise awareness of mental health. From left; Isabel Barton, Caryn Powell, Jim Barton, Linda Barton, Fleur Winter.

“We thought this was a great way of promoting Westbrook and Drayton, and I was gobsmacked that a lot of people who had lived in Toowoomba had never been to Mt Peel,” she said.

“Grief is a terrible journey to go through — you’re never the same person (and) people don’t always understand mental illness very well.

“Hiking (with the Toowoomba Bushwalking Club) was good, because people didn’t know about it and when you’re on the trail.

“Hiking was a way of escaping and getting away from it for me.”

The event was made possible thanks to funding from the Toowoomba Regional Council and private sponsors.

Mrs Barton said she wanted the event to help preserve the memory of her son, which she said was of much more than the way he died.

“He was probably my best friend — he was a larrikin, laughed and joked a lot,” she said.

“He had a big personality, he was the life of the party.”

For more information and to register for the event, head to the website or call 0406 436 616.

Mt Peel Scavenger hike to raise awareness of mental health. Isabel Barton.