If there’s one thing you can say about Luke Alexander, it’s that he doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet.
Fresh from organising another 150km journey – from Sydney to Newcastle – to raise funds and awareness for the Mark Hughes Foundation (MHF), The Big Three Trek founder will turn his attention to a new challenge.
He’s bidding farewell to the wine industry to link up with ProCare Mental Health Services in the hopes of helping even more people.
“That space is something I’m passionate about,” Mr Alexander said.
“We just raised more than $360,000 for the MHF, however my aim is do something similar for mental health over the next 12 months.
“Sadly, it’s a major issue not only in Australia, but the world.
“I’ve had a lot of mates who’ve suffered from mental health, even myself.
“So, the interest’s always been there.
“I then started chatting with the Newcastle charity, ProCare, and we’re kicking off a campaign called M-Brace for Mental Health.
“We did a little promotion with the Jets last season, but I’m keen to expand on it.
“We’ve got these cool bracelets to sell, where all proceeds will go towards funding free mental health services for those in need.
“Obviously, it can be a bit expensive for people to access assistance [these days].
“So, that’s our goal… making it free for everyone.
“My work with the Mark Hughes Foundation and McGrath Foundation – I think we’ve raised over $300,000 for it, too – has opened networking opportunities for me.
“It’s definitely given me the confidence to take the leap into the mental health space, which is exciting.”
But, Mr Alexander won’t be lost to his pet project, The Big Three Trek, an event he started with mates Ethan Coker and Nathan Hill in 2021.
“Our objective was to simply raise $500,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.
“Fast forward to last week when I handed over a cheque to Mark Hughes for $1.1 million [raised overall].
“We had such a good crew in 2025, with ex-NRL stars like Adam Muir, Wade Graham and Akuila Uate, and got lucky with the weather.
“Last year, we just copped it… it wasn’t light rain either, it belted down the whole day.
“However, I was thrilled we amassed over $360,000 this time around.
“That’s the most we’ve raised in one trek, which is cool.
“It goes to show people are still eager, and wanting to do it, five years on.
“So, it’s certainly snowballed from the beginning, which is humbling.
“As I’ve said to Mark a few times, it’s just a credit to him and Kirralee, people love them.
“They’re honestly the most genuine humans, in fact their whole little team is, with the amount of work they do.
“So, I’m not giving up The Big Three Trek.”
And, for good reason.
The NRL Beanies for Brain Cancer Round, which coincides with the fundraiser, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2026.
Mr Alexander’s keen to be part of the festivities.
“Hopefully, we’ll go nice and big for that,” he said.
“I think we’re going to try and invite everyone who’s done one before.
“Usually, there are about 65 to 70 who take part.
“But, we’ll work out to see if we can take 100 people… you’d love as many as possible, however it’s too hard for our support crew, logistics-wise.
“At the end of the day, we’re volunteers, we don’t have liability insurance or anything like that.
“So, we need to be careful.
“However, if we can manage 100, I believe we could raise a lot of money.
“That’s the plan.”
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