Best mates Ellis Johnson and Lachlan McCann start The Beers and Ears Project to smash mental health barriers

The young pair, 21-year-old Ellis Johnson and 23-year-old Lachlan McCann, officially launched The Beers and Ears Project on Facebook in early January - an online, and occasionally offline group - with the aim to provide ears to those who feel like checking-in.

"The whole thing came about when myself and Lachy were just catching up for a beer on a Friday [afternoon]," Mr Johnson explained.

"I'd not long become a dad and Lachy was already a father, so I relied on him a lot for advice - it's good to have that mate there to talk to and lean on through struggles, and not everyone has or does that.

"So, part of what we're trying to do now is offer people a bit of that same support - somewhere and someone to come to if they want have a chat - and encourage people to speak up and reach out, even if they need to get together."

Father-of-two, Mr McCann says the project name was more of a "lightbulb moment" during their informal yarn, with the pair both emphasising that it's not a title to be absorbed in literal terms.

"We just happened to be having a beer with each other at the time - we don't in any way condone or encourage the use of alcohol or drugs to deal with mental health [concerns]," Mr McCann said.

"We're more so trying to influence people in a positive way by giving that encouragement where it might be needed most. We're not professionals by any means - we are trying to take more steps towards to it by doing courses - but at the moment, we're mainly just trying to build and be more of a public figure in terms of that casual, online support."

With the best mates saying around five people are reaching out on a weekly average, they've already started to notice the benefits.

"We have quite a lot of people come to us seeking a bit of support and although were not professionals, we are always up for a chat and we do enjoy talking to people, helping them through their hard times," Mr McCann said.

"It's just something we really do genuinely enjoy doing and anyone can contact the page if they're feeling like they're up for a chat - we'll never turn anyone away."

Based online at this stage, bigger offline visions for fundraising events are also in the pipeline, with the Cabonne and Orange-based lads looking forward to bringing some of those ideas to life soon.

"We do have a few ideas in the bank lined up, so we're just in the process of sorting out public liability, insurance, venues, those kinds of things," Mr Johnson said.

"We're supposed to finalise our first event in Orange soon, we just have to wait for some confirmation, but the aim for our events will be more of a family-based theme; things like fishing competitions, cricket and footy gala days, car shows and family fun days at Cook Park or down at the lake.

"In a nutshell, we want to give people something to look forward to - to bring the community together, for people to make a couple of mates, spark up a conversation - events where people are brought together, where everyone is shown the support they're after."

Though manned by the two men, the project's vision isn't intended to be a boys only club, in fact, not even slightly.

"We've both been through our own struggles over the course of our life, particularly moving into adulthood, and I think there's still a lot of stigma around blokes having to 'be strong' and not allowed to have feelings ... my fiancé suffered postnatal depression as well, so that's another big reason why we started this," Mr Johnson said.

"It really highlighted the fact that everyone can be affected by mental health - it doesn't matter who you are or what you do - people will likely be affected by it regardless, so it's important for everyone to understand that it's okay to lean on mates; people are there and many don't realise that it's okay to lean on one another."

While these best mates continue their day jobs, a combination between them of working with front-end loaders, motorbikes and landscaping, their outside-of-work-hours mission remains a huge focus with mental health workshops under their belts, merchandise available for purchase and events awaiting launch.

And, by the end of the three fundraising years, they'll let The Beers and Ears Project followers vote for up to half a dozen charities to direct the money to.

"We started this project always knowing that we wanted to raise money for mental health, however during the last seven months - after countless meetings with advisers, trademark consultants, digital media consultants, lawyers and directors - we have become something much, much broader than we ever intended," the pair posted to the project page.

"We want to build a community, both online and offline, and become somewhere that everyone can come to - [and] hopefully help save lives."

For more information, search for The Beers and Ears Project via Facebook.