Black Dog Ride

Did you know that 1 in 5 Australians experience a mental health condition each year? Or that 3 million Aussies are living with depression or anxiety? The worst figure of all is that we lose 8 Australians every day to suicide – that’s nearly 3,000 people taking their lives each year.

Hearing these statistics, we at The Fast Lane know that we have to do something. We need to talk. We need to listen. We need to stop people taking their own lives.

We’ve partnered with The Black Dog Ride across all of our stores, to help spark conversations about mental health, depression and suicide. We want to make discussion about mental health an everyday thing, so that people know that they are not alone.

When you drive thru one of our locations, you’ll notice our staff wearing Black Dog Ride bandanas and badges, you’ll see Black Dog imagery on our BioPak compostable cups, and you might even see Winston. We want these visual reminders to encourage you to have those important conversations. 

Our friends at The Black Dog Ride sum it up perfectly – “Breaking down the barrier of silence encourages our friends, family and colleagues to seek help, because mental illnesses are just that, illnesses. They can be managed and people living with them can lead meaningful, fulfilling lives. Fostering awareness is the catalyst for encouraging help seeking behaviour and preventing suicide.”

Next time you’re getting a coffee from us, ask our team for more info on The Black Dog Ride, and how to spark a conversation – we’ve got handy little info cards to help you.

And if you can, join with us in making a donation to The Black Dog Ride – all the money they raise goes to help LOCAL initiatives around mental health and depression. We’ve donated $2,500 and we will match your donations dollar for dollar next year as well, up to another $2,500.

To find out more about the work the Black Dog Ride do, visit their website.