31 July 2024
On Wednesday 31st July 2024, we paused across our WA mining sites where our rigs operate and at the McKay Drilling head office to remember our beloved mate Joshua “Dooga’ Jones and all our loved ones who have gone too soon.
Thanks to all onsite who held events to reflect on the day.
Our annual Dooga Day Brekkie BBQ held at our McKay Drilling head office welcomed guest speaker, Ben Broadbridge, from Beyond All Bounds (BAB) who shared his impactful journey through the depths of depression and proved appearances are not always as they seem with him openly discussing how his journey lead him to time in prison. He shared his experiences and challenges he faced on his journey after prison, highlighting the support you receive from your family, friends and other resources play a crucial part in the direction and outcome although even with the greatest support, we are human and can make poor choices in life that lead to our circumstances. Ben provided our guests with an inspiring and interactive discussion, we hope in sharing his story it provides hope for those that are struggling to feel it and allows those who feel hope to provide empathy and support to those that don’t.
In a Dooga Day Brekkie BBQ first, our guests were provided with a Cold Water Immersion demonstration presented by Clay from Shock and Thaw Sports Recovery who highlighted all the benefits to our mental health. Dooga’s Family are incredibly passionate about ice bath therapy and its benefits in preventing mental health decline. Their dream is to see ice bath therapy available on all mine sites in the future. Our General Manager, Aaron Earl raised a great point at the event in regards to mental health perceptions. When our guests were asked ‘What comes to mind when you think of Physical health? – responses were ‘Keeping Active, Eating Well, Getting enough sleep’ – all positive responses that require some action. When our guests were asked ‘What comes to mind when you think of Mental Health?’ – responses were ‘Depression, Suicide, Illness’ – highlighting mental health is misunderstood and therefore people struggle to understand what to do to improve their overall mental health or provide support to others to do so.
During the cold water immersion where our brave volunteers went feet first into the experience, Clay did an incredible job at explaining what a person experiences at each stage of the immersion and added it must never be done without another person around – safety first always. Everyone was so engaged and supportive of those taking the plunge. For 5 minutes, our volunteers were transported to block out all the noise in their lives (even the 100 people watching them!!), block out every urge in their mind that is telling them to jump out of the cold and just focus on breathing – being present in that moment. We hope the experience shed a more positive light on mental health and opened minds on how to take action to improve it.
The Dooga Day Brekkie BBQ would not be possible without the sponsorship support of Fortescue Exploration and Resource Definition Teams. Thank you from all at McKay Drilling.
Special thanks to Jenny and Mark McKay for their catering sponsorship, Munchy Machine did an incredible job at feeding our 100 guests.
The MATES in Mining Team were on hand at the event as this years beneficiary, they even took the ice bath plunge. We are proud to share that our cash raffle on the day raised over $1200 and the site hazards completed with meters drilled on Dooga Day raised a further $4830. There is still plenty of time to go into the draw for the Major Raffle, visit https://rafflelink.com.au/doogadayraffle2024 to enter. Closes 9th September 2024 and drawn 10th September 2024. Over 35 Prizes to be won.
To date (7th August 2024), thanks to everyone’s generosity the DOOGA DAY FUNDRAISER 2024 has raised for MATES in Mining:
MATES provides suicide prevention through community development programs on sites. The MATES program is based on the simple idea that ‘suicide is everyone’s business’. If the building and construction industry and Mining industry in Australia is to improve the mental health and well-being of workers and reduce suicide, then it cannot be left to mental health professionals: everyone in these industries must play their part. This is why McKay Drilling are working with MATES to ensure majority of our workforce have General Awareness Training and opportunities to become CONNECTORS. If your organisation is interested in FREE training opportunities with MATES, please visit https://mates.org.au/mining/ or call 08 9462 6664.
Thanks to everyone who came together and united to hopefully continue to build stronger relationships that support and improve everyone’s mental health and wellbeing.
#mckaydrilling #doogaday2024 #doogadayfundraiser2024 #matesinmining #matesinconstruction #mentalhealthawareness #suicideprevention
