Inspired by conversations with his friends on how to deal with the pressures of senior high school-life, Scott used his prize money from winning the WA Young Achiever Award and WA Youth Award in 2021, to fund his podcast titled Scott’s Great Chat.

Since 2010, the Year 11 student at Sacred Heart College in Sorrento has walked over 1000 km and raised over $200,000, which he has donated to assigned beneficiaries.

“I don’t get to choose where the money goes, but there are 97 beneficiaries this year, with the Telethon Kids Institute being an example,” Scott said.

“The people at Telethon even gave me a tour through their labs and showed me where their money goes. It is more by supporting Telethon you are supporting all the beneficiaries. I have started a new season on my podcast where I am interviewing each of the Telethon beneficiaries and asking them questions such as how much does the money help and where does it go.”

“My school and community have been incredibly helpful and supportive with my walks. I often take a fair amount of time off school with things like my speeches, walks and interviews, they are incredibly supportive with that and actively promote what I do.”

Scott spoke candidly about his preparation for the walk and the importance of having community support throughout his journey.

“I complete strength and weight training and cardio at CUBE43 gym once a week. As it gets closer to my marathon, I start to get kilometres in my legs by walking 5km every second day,” he said.

“I found it more challenging to complete my walk this year than any other year. I get mentally exhausted during my walk, but this year I pushed myself so much that I ended up being extremely physically exhausted and ended up just wanting to drop to the ground.

“I have always been blessed with support from family, friends, and the community. One of my highlights at this years’ walk was my friends’ catching the train to follow my journey and support me,” he said.

“My school has also been incredibly helpful and supportive with my walks. I often take a fair amount of time off school with things like my speeches, walks and interviews, they are incredibly supportive with that and actively promote what I do.”

Having coined the phrase, “It’s easy to make a difference, what can you do?” Scott believes it has always been about the little gestures that make a difference and wants to inspire other young people to pursue their passions.

You can learn more about Scott and Damien’s story so far at https://www.scottsgreatwalk.com/