Kelly Dubberley, a close friend of Jack Brownlee who died with Charlie Howkins after a trench collapse at Winter Valley in March 2018, is organising a walk from Geelong to the site of the tragedy in March this year.

He hopes the walk will raise enough money to allow construction to start on a workers' memorial which has been planned for the new Winter Valley estate.

A crowdfunding campaign is underway to fund the memorial which has been given the go-ahead by the City of Ballarat and developers of the Winter Valley estate.

Mr Dubberley himself was working on a excavation site at Armstrong Creek near Geelong on the day of the incident. He said he had a sick feeling at the time that something was wrong.

"I was working on a big excavation in Geelong and I'd heard about something going on and I just knew something was wrong," he said.

"For the memorial they need to raise $100,000 and I wanted to do something for (parents of Jack) Dave and Janine.

"We're working to get corporate sponsors on board and we've so far managed to raise $5000, but we thought 'why not have a crack at the $100,000'?"

Mr Dubberley said the site where he was working was the perfect place to start the five-day walk which would end at Winter Valley on March 21, the three- year anniversary of the tragedy.

"We'll be leaving (on) the Wednesday and the goal is to arrive on the site on Sunday, March 21.

"We're also hoping we can organise a fundraising gala event - we really want to pump the money through and get this going as soon as we can."

Jack's father Dave will also be taking part in the walk, and organisers are encouraging as many people as possible to join them for part or all of the journey.

Ballarat artist Garry Anderson has been chosen by the families of Mr Brownlee and Mr Howkins to create the permanent sculpture at the new Winter Valley estate.

Lana Cormie, wife of Mr Howkins, told The Courier at the announcement of the artist chosen to design the sculpture that she hoped it would honour workers of the past and future.

"One of the aims of this memorial is to give a message of hope that it is not just about remembering who has passed, but what we want for the future in that all of our sons and daughters will go to work and we know they will be safe as they rightly should," Dr Cormie said.

"That is something that many people have striven for in our country and this monument will give that hope.

"We hope this new community, that Charlie and Jack helped create, will be able to appreciate the wonderful space they can spend with their families as a place of respect.

"We feel strongly about this being about hope, the future - let's not make it about death, let's make it about a better future."