”Take it one hour at a time.”
- Dhananjay Phatak
How it began
The idea to do a really long (read: silly) walk for a good cause started back in 2015 with DJ (brother and friend) doing the 100km Palm Beach to Watsons Bay & Back walk. He did it for many reasons but one of them was to get his mental and physical health back in order. He smashed the 100kms alright and conquered many of his demons along the way too! As well as raising a ton of money for his charity.
Sadly, 3 months after completing his walk, he passed away and shuffled off this mortal coil. He left behind wonderful memories for family and friends that will last us a lifetime.
One of our last few conversations before he left us was his wish to get our family & friends out walking regularly, as he had found it therapeutic and wanted others to get out there & conquer their own demons. We thought we’d put his advice into practice and give this walking thing a go. And we’re glad we did.
We held our very first Silly Walk in 2019 with 3 walkers doing the 100km, another 30 walkers doing between 1-30kms, and raised over $5,000. We started with supporting 1 charity and have now branched out into supporting several.
Why Silly Walk? Well..
Why walk? Well..
It’s not as hard as running or going to the gym.
It’s free, doesn’t cost you a dime.
It’s the most ancient of human traditions.
It’s conducive to wonderful conversations with friends and strangers.
And yes it’s amazing for your mental & physical health.
Check out the Walker’s Diary for more inspiration on what walking means to our Silly Walkers.
We want to live in a community where mental & physical health are a core part of everyone’s lives. Where everyone feels connected to their community in some shape or form.Where everyone has a buddy to talk to in a time of need. Silly Walk is our small part in making that dream a reality.
Regularly walking by yourself, walking with friends, or walking with strangers is one way of building that healthy & connected community.
We also feel that another important way of finding fulfillment in life is by giving back to the make the world a better place. The Silly Walk team is passionate about supporting three particular causes – Poverty, the Environment and Mental Health. To this end, we encourage our Silly Walkers to get behind and support these dedicated charities and the amazing work they do – Poverty (Palmera) and Mental Health (Black Dog Institute).
Walk
Choose from he very serious 1km distance to the very silly 100 and join us for the training walks and other shenanigans.
Volunteer
If you’d like to help out on the day, then please get in touch with us. There are a few essential roles we’ll need assistance with.
Walk
If you can’t attend the event and would like to donate to our charities instead, please click below to donate to Palmera and Black Dog.