Down. Up. Down. Up. Again, and again, and again. Knuckles on the office carpet, arms shaking, chest tight as a vice. This is what showing up looks like — one push-up at a time.
The number was 3,307. Not chosen at random. It’s the number of Australians who took their own lives in a single year. One push-up for each life. A challenge designed to make you feel, just a little, the weight that so many carry alone.
The Push-Up Challenge raises funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention, with every dollar supporting services like Lifeline Queensland.
UnitingCare Queensland Chief Executive Officer, Ben Edwards, led the charge. For Ben and the team taking part, each push-up was a small act of commitment — a way to honour the lives behind the number and help raise awareness for people experiencing crisis.
Then came the moment every relay needs. He passed the baton.
He passed it to UnitingCare Queensland’s Project SEARCH interns — young people with disability who spend a year with us learning real workplace skills, growing in confidence, and finding their feet in the working world. They picked up the challenge and carried it home. Down. Up. To the very last rep.
Ben put it best. The challenge was never really about push-ups. It was about the uncomfortable things — starting a conversation when you’re struggling, asking for help, sitting beside someone through their hardest days. Those uncomfortable moments are often the ones that matter most.
Every dollar raised goes to Lifeline Queensland’s crisis support services — the phone line, the text service, the online chat that answers, day or night, whenever someone needs to be heard. Countless lives that don’t have to face a crisis alone.
