Round for
Reach 2024

When Jim Stynes and Paul Currie founded the Reach Foundation back in 1994, mental health wasn't really 'a thing'. For two young men to come into what was then very much uncharted territory — encouraging young people to build resilience and meaningful connections — was a complete game changer, paving the way for countless other organisations to follow.

We proudly partnered with The Reach Foundation and Melbourne Football Club to produce the 2024 Round for Reach Campaign, marking the 30th anniversary of Jim Stynes' legacy and Reach's biggest milestone yet.

This year's theme — It started with Jim, it continues with you — pays tribute to a legacy like no other, while passing the baton onto the community to continue supporting Reach's preventative mental health work for another 30 years and beyond.

Young people are still being held back today by the same fears and pressures that existed in 1994 when Reach began. Body image, negative self-talk and poor self-esteem are front runners — whilst the extreme pressure of fitting in with the crowd, while being your own person at the same time, is only amplified by social media.

Young people consume a barrage of unrealistic, highly edited content on a daily basis. The make-believe world of social media paints a warped picture of what a good life should look like — slowly damaging the self-esteem of impressionable young minds, swipe by swipe, click by click.

To truly understand the challenges young people face today versus 30 years ago, we took a deep dive into archival footage — countless hours of Jim Stynes and co-founder Paul Currie facilitating some of their earliest breakthrough moments with young adolescents, which completely changed the landscape for mental health initiatives across Australia.

We then spoke with current Reach facilitators and crew members aged 14–25. It quickly became apparent that despite improved awareness around mental health, these issues not only still exist — they're completely exacerbated by the unrealistic expectations of social media.

Through the supporting voices of Melbourne Football Club's Max Gawn, Saraid Taylor and Jake Melksham, the campaign explores the detrimental effects that social media has on young people — and how Reach, three decades on, is still creating spaces for them to be the best versions of themselves without judgment.

As Reach Crew members Hattie and Lockie openly shared their struggles, we balanced this with a glimpse of Max Gawn's own experience growing up before working with Jim Stynes — demonstrating a more human side to Gawn in the eyes of young people who look up to him as a footy icon and role model. The 2024 Round for Reach returned to the MCG, where the campaign premiered on the big screen and throughout the broadcast, supported by social media teasers and out-of-home digital screens across Melbourne.