We’ve all had a tough time at some point in our lives that required us to keep moving and not give up. For Matt this moment came in 2010, when he lost his dad to suicide. Matthew Breen started Running for Resilience (R4R) in 2019 with the goal of saving one life from suicide, as many times as possible. Since joining forces with the Dock on the Kingston Foreshore and former Wallaby Ben Alexander in the early days, R4R began running each Wednesday night and catching up for a chat afterward, regularly attracting 200 runners to each run. R4R has grown into a community of more than 2,000 Canberrans who believe that community and exercise underpin a mentally healthy landscape, and with this growth, R4R now believes that saving as many lives from suicide as possible is making Canberra Suicide-Free by 2033. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Former Wallabies and Brumbies prop Ben Alexander was searching for purpose in retirement. When he helped launch the Running for Resilience Run Club, initially it was about the running, then it grew to be so much more, uniting the Canberra community in their mission to eliminate suicide in the ACT.