MORE than the usual number of unwashed vehicles passed through the Coonamble and Gilgandra districts on the weekend of 25 & 26 March as the Beyond Bitumen Rally tested the rural road network.

Around ninety vehicles and 226 people made their winding way from Narrabri to Dubbo using as many unsealed kilometres as they could.

The rally is a fundraiser for Beyond Blue and was born out of a personal tragedy for the Fehon family, who live in the Blue Mountains, when their daughter Beth Maree succumbed to depression and took her own life in February 2005 at the age of 16.

Her parents Peter and Trish Fehon, decided to take action against what they say is an all-too-often fatal illness.

The Beyond Bitumen Rally is now in its ninth year and has so far raised over $3million for mental health research and support services through the national charity Beyond Blue.

This year's rally departed Mudgee on Friday 24 March, travelling via the back roads of Gulgong, Dunedoo and Coonabarabran through the 'break roads' of the Pilliga Forest to Narrabri.

The tailend of a large group of cars who stopped for lunch in Coonamble. IMAGE: Coonamble Times

On Saturday 25 March they came via Wee Waa and Come by Chance to devour a hearty Rotary Club lunch in Smith Park Coonamble before heading up the Back Gular Road towards Gilgandra and on to Dubbo.

On Sunday they meandered from Dubbo via Trundle to Orange and their final leg on Day 4 took them to Medlow Bath in the Blue Mountains.

This trip raised more than $400,000, starting with a minimum $1500 entry 'fee' for each vehicle. 

"Some go harder than that," said Tour Director Peter Fehon. "One car raised $22,000 by themselves."

He says while some teams target corporate sponsorship, there are also 'mum and dad' participants who just manage to raise the entry fee.

The money raised acts as seed funding for Beyond Blue's The Way Back Support Service.

"It's a buddy system for people who've presented to hospital with a suicide attempt," Mr Fehon explained. "Within six weeks of being in hospital you'll be referred to a clinicial psychologist or someone like that but Way Back hooks you up with a buddy within 48 hours and you have that buddy for the next six months."

The support system was first trialled in Newcastle in 2018 and the first 12 months saw no less than 800 successful interventions.

"That proved that there was a need and that it worked," Mr Fehon said. "Once it is established in an area the local health district then absorbs the cost into their budget, and that enables us to extend the program to somewhere else."

Rally crew Esther Allen, Paul Jackson, Brad Bell and Michael Ellis.

Current sites in NSW include the Hunter, Far North Coast, Broken Hill, Murrumbidgee area and a number of Sydney districts.

The cars, some of them from the 1960s and 70s, traversed about 1500 kilometres over the four days.

"We now call it a 1500 kilometre conversation," Mr Fehon said. "It's four days for people to be real and talk to their mates about what's really going on."

If this article has raised issues for you please call Lifeline 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.