LESS THAN a week after starting their campaign to raise money for mental health service the Black Dog Institute, Bourke teenager Harry Bowden and a group of school friends are well on their way to raising their current $250,000 goal.

Mullets for Munz was started by Harry and a group of his friends in honour of their close friend and classmate Nick Munsie, who took his own life in early June at only 18 years of age, with the blessing of Nick's family.

"I came across an ad for the Black Dog Institute's 'Mullets for Mental Health' fundraiser online and that you could do it in teams, so messaged a group chat I was in about it," Harry said.

"We were all good mates with (Nick) so they were all really keen to do it too and we decided to call our team 'Mullets for Munz'."

The team has grown significantly since it began, with more than 60 boys from across regional and urban NSW - most of whom are in Year 12 at St Joseph's College in Sydney - taking part.

A complete list of all the boys participating can be found below the story.

Their fundraising target has also changed over time and is now reaching amounts none of them would have thought possible.

"Our initial goal was $300 and that got chased down in about 10 minutes - I then changed it to what I thought was massive, $1000, and we hit that pretty quickly as well," Harry said.

"By the end of our first day - Wednesday 11 August - we were up to $20,000. So now we have a goal of $250,000 and we're already over halfway there."

As of this afternoon (Wednesday 18 August), the fundraiser was sitting at more than $168,000 and was the top fundraising team by almost $150,000.

Harry - who is still in the early stages of getting his mullet together - said he had been completely overwhelmed by the response.

"It's amazing, you can see how many people are supporting us and it's unreal really - I reckon it's brought all of us closer together as well by honouring a mutual friend of ours," he said.

According to Harry, the 'Mullet for Munz' funds would go towards developing community and school programs - including digital workshops and webinars - to help young people adapt to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

It will also go towards supporting 'under-the-radar' research to better understand why some people who have thought of ending their life aren't receiving the proper help and uncover better ways of supporting them.

"I reckon that's one of the best ways of helping with the money because it helps prevent the kind of situation from happening again," he said.

"I'd hope (Nick) would be pretty pleased with that outcome and how many people want to support people like him in his honour."

The 'Mullet for Munz' fundraiser will be taking donations until the end of September, though the boys will cut their hair on Wednesday September 1.

"Cutting it all together was the plan - I think it would be better to meet up to do it - but now with COVID, if we have to do it in some online way, it just is what it is," Harry said.

However, Harry - who has just begun trials for his Year 12 exams - said he won't be surprised if his mullet makes a return down the line.

"With school, you can't really have long hair but once I'm done, I think I'll stick with the mullet - I kind of like it," he said with a laugh.

"I think some of the other boys might be pretty keen to keep it long too - we'll see what happens."

The 'Mullet for Munz' team:

Harry Bowden, Ned Shortis, Jackson Heaney, Joseph Cantt, Sam Taber, Sonny Colosimo, Max Kirkwood, Harry Parnaby, Sam Graham, Jack Johnston, Kai Langfield, Angus Gourley, Archie Gallagher, Austin Boyd, Austin Smith, Xavier Horton, Charlie Howse, Bella Paita, Dom Stanley, Dylan Connaghan, Dylan McCann, Ed Bookallil, Fin Grimmond, Fetcher Thew, Flynn Thompsett, George Daley, Hamish Alston, Harvey Keady, Henri Mead, Jack Madden, James Arthur, James Woods, Jonny Chan, Joseph Anderson, Jy Bailey, Kai Paterson, Lochie Findlay, Liam Keady, Liam Stewart, Lucas Simpson, Luke Copping, Matthew O’Mara, Matthew Dodds, Nathan Gibbons, Ned Dalton, Nick Costigan, Oscar Seccombe, Paddy Burns, Rhys Downs, Riley Murphey, Robbie Johnston, Ronan Carroll, Ryan Paterson, Ryan Waugh, Henry Roberts, Simon Dodds, Spencer Benjamin, Toby Landers, Tom Conlon, Will Hawthorn, Will Martin, Xavier Houghston, Xavier Lee, Xavier Mundsay and Zac Knight.