A cold morning cleared and the sun shone down on Bendigo's Suicide Preventation Awareness Network walk on Sunday.
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About 300 people took part in the walk to help increase the conversation about suicide prevention.
Founders Alannah McGregor and Bette Phillips-Campbell said the day was one of sadness combined with positivity.
"When you meet other people and know you're not the only person in the world (going through something), it removes that isolation," Ms Phillips-Campbell said.
"So I feel like its sad but it's good to talk about. The more you do, you might not know saved a life."
Mr Phillips-Campbell said a lot of people used the day as a way to honour their loved ones.
"For some people it's a bit of a pilgrimage," she said.
"One lady said to me it's the one day of calm she has where she can honour (her loved one's) memory. I thought that was quite profound."
Bendigo's SPAN walk is now in its eight year and in that time has helped people open up about how suicide has affected them.
"No matter how many people are here, people need a day like this," Ms McGregor said. "There's sadness but people move from that to talking to each other.
"People are more open about conversation to reduce the stigma of suicide."
SPAN took part in the Bendigo Easter Festival parades this year in an effort to bring conversations about suicide to the whole community.
"Hopefully it made a huge difference in people being able to have a conversation but we also hope it's bought out in the open that its OK to talk about people (who have died by suicide)," Ms McGregor said.
"It was an atmosphere that happy and fun and not frightening for people to talk about."
Ms McGregor and Ms Phillips-Campbell will be able to broaden SPAN's affect on the community thanks to funding from state government initiative Pick My Project.
The project will see SPAN host Safe Talks in workplaces and community groups around Bendigo.
"When we first started SPAN, we had about eight people in Bendigo who had suicides that were work related.
"You can't place enough importance on that aspect, it often gets missed. It is not only due to bullying, it can be stresses and strain, financial worries, a feeling of being stuck in a job you feel you have no way out from - that builds depression.
"Pick My Project means we can broaden ourselves in the community. As we do that it will help release the stigma and let people understand what brings suicide about.
"A lot of people don't understand what causes suicide, why people make that choice to take their life."
The training sessions educate people on how to recognise if someone needs help, how to ask if someone wants help and how to get them help.
"More and more people want to be involved," Ms McGregor said. "People are more open in talking about loved ones, talking to each other about how things are going and asking if people are OK."
If you need help, talk to someone you trust or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
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