Ballarat Blokes Who Blake starting conversations about mental health

They are part of a movement to increase awareness and conversations about men's mental health.

Event manager and hospitality guru Kate Davis is using a celebration of food to kick-start the conversation in Ballarat during month-long culinary festival Plate Up Ballarat with Ballarat Blokes Who Bake.

THE EVENT

Plate Up Ballarat is calling for blokes who may be secret master bakers or known for baking the best birthday cakes to enter Ballarat Blokes Who Bake.

Run as part of Plate Up Ballarat, participants will enter their finest birthday cake or baked goods to be taste-tested by a panel of judges, including Good Food writer Richard Cornish, on May 19.

All funds raised will be donated to Beyond Blue.

Plate Up Ballarat director Kate Davis said a male friend who creates impressive birthday cakes for her daughters sparked the idea for the competition.

"I have been so impressed by his cakes and started to discover there was this underground movement of blokes who are baking and decorating cakes. I thought why not celebrate that? We should celebrate that," she said.

More than 20 blokes have already signed up to participate in the competition with an option to enter into professional and amateur categories for birthday cakes or baked goods.

"Plate Up is an inclusive event and we wanted to bring in the community in a holistic way where we could make a difference," Ms Davis said.

"Men don't talk about mental health enough. The more we talk about it the more it will become the norm.

"This is an opportunity to bring the community together in a different way."

THE BAKER

Jeremy Caunt is not an avid baker, but as someone who is happy to give anything a go, he has signed up to participate in Ballarat Blokes Who Bake as a chance to support a cause he is passionate about.

Placing third in a workplace baking competition with a Russian Honey Cake last year has given him the confidence to enter the community competition - but the day won't be all about winning.

"This is about mental health. I am interested in men's mental health and the power of vulnerability," he said.

"Blokes don't always have to be dependable. Sometimes it is okay to be crap at something, have a go, get help and get feedback, that is part of mental health as well."

Through his baking, Mr Caunt will be a part of the conversation and raise awareness about men's mental health.

"The barriers to men engaging in mental health treatment or acknowledging it in a social setting are real. It is that idea of vulnerability and help seeking," he said.

"It is hard to say 'can I have some help'. I think men especially find that quite difficult.

"I am no different. If I was struggling I don't think I would automatically go to help seeking behaviour. I would try to muddy through myself a bit and keep it to myself, but that is not the most helpful thing to do.

"It is better to put your hand up and ask for help. That is tough for a lot of people but I think it is for blokes especially."

Mr Caunt is planning to experiment with his baking entry, focusing on the ideas of storytelling and the broader Plate Up Ballarat aim of showcasing local produce.

"I am thinking about using local oats from Smeaton and marshmallows from the new factory So Soft Marshmallows in Delacombe," he said.

"My idea is an oat biscuit sort of base with a marshmallowy condensed milk top but also using chilli that we have grown in our backyard. It will be a bit of a weird cooky baking experience with a bit of bite.

"I can tell a bit of a story about how sometimes people are a bit spicy or a bit soft but there is always a different edge to them. What people present with or what a cake looks like is not always what you get when you bite through the layers."

THE EVENT PARTNER

Ballarat fitness coach and gym owner Sean Weir has worked through his own mental health issues throughout his life. He is now channeling his desire to change the stigma around talking about mental health through his new apparel label the Shaka Project.

"I created the Shaka Project to start a connection between guys, to speak up, talk about mental health and show empathy for mates who may have mental health issues," he said.

All Shaka Project apparel features a shaka logo, a symbol of communication Mr Weir found was relateable.

"Communication is a big thing when it comes to mental health and there is not a lot of it when it comes to men and speaking about their feelings," he said.

"By wearing the logo it can be an expression that the person wearing it may have had mental health issues in the past or wants to show they are empathetic and understand mental health issues.

"I am hoping to make a connection between guys, so that if you are walking down the street and see another bloke wearing a Shaka Project top you can know this is a person you can go up to and talk about mental health and they will show empathy and awareness. It is about giving guys an outlet to feel comfortable to talk about it."

Mr Weir has received more than 400 orders from locations across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States since he launched the Shaka Project from Ballarat in January.

Each month the Shaka Project donates 10 per cent of all profits to an organisation supporting men's health.

Beyond Blue data shows on average, one in eight men will experience depression and one in five men will experience anxiety at some stage of their lives.

Blokes make up an average six out of every eight suicides every single day in Australia. The number of men who die by suicide in Australia every year is nearly double the national road toll.

Beyond Blue recognises men are known for bottling things up, but says when you're feeling down, taking action to call in extra support is the responsible thing to do.

For Mr Weir, speaking to family and friends, seeking professional help and keeping up gym and work as outlets helped improve his mental health as a teenager.

"My father suffered a lot from depression so I was pretty aware of the condition already. I knew exactly what it was so I wasn't too scared, but a lot of guys do get scared and ashamed when they start getting these feelings," he said.

"I was aware so could seek professional help pretty quickly and I had other outlets with gym and work and family and friends to fall back onto.

"Doing the Shaka Project has been really good for me to see how many guys out there do suffer from similar issues. I started out thinking it would be a couple of mates getting behind the project, but it spreading so quickly shows there are so many people out there who are feeling the same things."

Mr Weir will speak at the Ballarat Blokes Who Bake event and all participants will receive Shaka Project merchandise.

"The most important thing is to create a connection to get guys talking, looking after their mates and looking after themselves," he said.

Entries are open now for the Ballarat Blokes Who Bake competition which will be held at St Patrick's College Pavilion on May 19. Community members are invited to attend the event to help raise funds and awareness for men's mental health. St Patrick's College director of community development Paul Nolan said the college developed a very strong focus on this issue.