It is not an official holiday or recognised day, but Bright Shirt Day began in Curtis Park at 11am and will run until 2pm. Event organiser John Crisp said it is all about getting word out to men about community services available to help them if they need it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"We kick off at 11am and registrations for the Bright Shirt Contest close at 1pm and Luke Fahy will be the judge of that," he said.
"The winner will be announced between 1.15pm-1.30pm and then we'll hand out the major prizes."
ALSO READ:
HealthWise has partnered with Blah,Blah Coffee and other agencies and non-profit groups will be there to talk about what they do.
"There's a whole community of men's issues out there and I want to tell men that there are other places to go to."
"Today the best place to go just might be down to Curtis Park wearing a bright shirt."
UPDATE
Armidale's inaugural Bright Shirt Day was hailed as a success on Thursday afternoon after the event was attended by about 35 people, leaving organiser John Crisp very satisfied with the outcomes of the day.
"It was a great first event and i hope there's more to come for the men's health and wellbeing," he said.
"The response from the public to come down here with the bright shirts was great. There were 22 men posing around in their shirts, I thought that was great and everyone seemed to have a good day."
The bright shirt winner on the day just happened to be Lyndon Strong from Armajun. He wore a bright, predominately purple number he bought while on a recent trip to Cairns.
"I thought it was a great event and we need more. Us men need to get out and talk more instead of bottling it up," he said.
"There's plenty of support around, like Blah. Blah, Blah and the guys here today. It's not just here in Armidale, it's right across Australia. There are similar problems everywhere."
Greg Moore from the Armidale Men's Shed said the shed was originally established to help people out and give men a place to go to do something and enjoy each other's company.
"It was just an enjoyable day, but the most important thing was just focussing on men's health and wellbeing in the community," he said.
"We're open seven days a week and we can help men out from 18 up and any bloke is welcome to come along."
"Luke Fahy represented HomesNorth and said a big part of what could effect men was homelessness.
"That's where we step in. We're able to provide accomodation, crisis and also long-term accommodation for the entire community, but for us to be asked to be part of this, it just fits with our community culture and something we're very proud to be part of," Luke said.
