19/10/2026
AlburyCity, why does our city not have a Blue Tree Project.
If you’d told Simon 10 years ago he’d end up working in mental health, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
He grew up in regional WA, travelled around the world as a carpenter and worked plenty of seasons back on his family farm
In 2018, Simon got the news that his best mate, Jayden, had tragically taken his own life.
At Jayden’s funeral, Simon heard the story of a light-hearted prank Jayden and his mate, Tjarda had pulled on his Dad. They’d found some leftover blue paint and painted a non-living tree bright blue on Jayden’s family farm.
Simon left with an idea...
Back on his own family farm, he found the biggest non-living tree he could and, early one morning with Jayden’s cousin, Jared, painted the second blue tree.
He posted a photo of the tree to Facebook and explained what the tree meant to him. What was meant for family and mates quickly reached thousands of people, many sharing their own stories and joining the conversation around mental health.
Simon and Jayden's sisters, Kendall and Erryn, saw how people connected with the story of the blue tree, and how it quickly started sparking conversations about mental health. In early 2019, they started Blue Tree Project.
More than seven years on, Simon is still right in the thick of it. He speaks to schools, clubs, workplaces and communities, facilitates Mental Health First Aid and works as a counsellor.
Simon didn’t have a big platform or a perfect plan. He saw a chance to make a difference and had a crack.
One tree, quickly became 10, then 100 and now 1,696 stand across the globe, reminding people to check in, have a yarn and look after the people around us 💙
