Day 3 of Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge 2026: nearly $800,000 raised for We Are Mobilise

Are you wondering why everybody has suddenly embarked on their most diabolically insane adventures this week? Ironmans, half marathons, 24-hour swims, hikes and cycles. Welcome to Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge (or what we like to call NUC).

Three days in, as of 21 October 2026, Australians have already raised over $780,000 for We Are Mobilise through NUC, and the challenges are crazier than ever.

What is Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge?

Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge is a national fundraiser led by Nedd Brockmann, the 2026 Young Australian of the Year, that raises money for We Are Mobilise, an Australian homelessness charity. The premise is simple: choose something that makes you uncomfortable and do it every day for 10 days, from 19 to 28 October. Individuals, schools, gyms, workplaces and groups of mates all take part.

NUC started in 2024, but we’re proud to say that our relationship with Nedd started years earlier.

How Nedd Brockmann and We Are Mobilise found each other

Before Nedd and our CEO and founder, Noah Yang, crossed paths, they were on similar journeys. Both had their lives changed by sitting down and having conversations with people sleeping rough. Both had asked the same question - why, in a country as prosperous as Australia, are people still experiencing homelessness? - and decided to do something about it.

Noah had started We Are Mobilise in 2016 as a national volunteer outreach service. Nedd had started doing what he does best - running. A lot. Noah first noticed Nedd on Instagram during his 50 marathons in 50 days in 2020, which raised money for homelessness services. But it wasn’t until Nedd reached out with his idea to run across the country that everything changed. In 2022, Nedd ran from Cottesloe in Perth to Bondi in Sydney and raised over $2.6 million for Mobilise.

Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge represents everything Nedd and Mobilise stand for. It’s about having the courage to find out what lies on the other side of impossible. To find that limit and smash through it.

Where the money goes

But it’s also about getting the entire country behind our mission: putting a spotlight on the more than 122,000 people experiencing homelessness in Australia (ABS Census 2021) and raising money to change that.

Every dollar raised through NUC goes to our Direct Giving programs. We Are Mobilise provides direct financial support, like rent and bond assistance, to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, through a network of more than 50 charity partners across every state and territory. Every $36 raised funds a night of housing, and Mobilise has now helped more than 1,500 people into stable housing.

NUC raised $1.6 million last year. This year, we’re gunning for $2 million.

NUC 2026: the challenges to get behind

I’ve put together a list of some of my favourite challenges this year - follow, donate, like and get the message out. We know we can solve homelessness in Australia - that’s the impossible we’re pursuing - but we can only do it when the entire country comes along on the journey with us.

• Sam Flannery (@samflannery_) is swimming for 24 hours straight on 24 October at the University of Queensland.
• Bill Simpson (@_billsimpson) is sleeping rough for 10 days.
• Chad Aziz (@chadazizz) is doing 10 Ironmans in 10 days.
• Jason Hobson (@j.hobson) is cycling 600km around Rottnest Island over two days, 23 to 24 October.
• Cameron Lodge (@lodgey_) is cycling from the Gold Coast to Newcastle.
• Scott Young (@scottyoung_) is running 1,200km from South Australia to Sydney in 10 days.
• Demi Sonneman (@d.sonneman17) is doing 500 wall balls every day for 10 days.

To start your own challenge or donate, head to Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge.