By Callum Ludwig
Firefighters across the country descended upon Crown Metropol Hotel on Saturday 10 September to take on the Melbourne Firefighters Stair Climb, with a number of Upper Yarra CFA’s making a significant contribution to the fundraising effort.
Around 600 personnel participated, decked out in 25kg of turnout gear to traverse 28 flights of stairs to raise awareness for mental health.
Wesburn-Millgove CFA firefighter Tony Lewis was competing in his eighth consecutive climb and said the day was once again a huge success.
“Everyone on the day was excited if a little nervous because we hadn’t physically done the stairs in a few years, but everyone ended up doing a fantastic job,” he said.
“People at the brigades, on top of being volunteers and having full-time jobs, they’ve actually taken time out to fundraise for mental health and spend their Saturday climbing the 28 floors in that 25kg of firefighting gear, it’s just awesome.”
With two days left of fundraising to go, $525,938 has been raised from the effort, a fantastic result given the cost-of-living pressures being faced by everyone.
Mr Lewis said he thinks everybody was happy with the fundraising efforts.
“I know the brigades themselves have done an excellent job with their fundraising. Between myself and Troy [Morton-Thick] at Wesburn-Millgrove fire brigade, we’ve raised $3,250. It was definitely a worthwhile event to raise funds for such a fantastic cause,” he said.
“I’d encourage anyone to give it a go, even if they only do it once. I was a little slower than usual, it was a bit harder than I remember it being but still managed to complete it in five minutes and 40 seconds, which I was happy with.”
Hillcrest CFA was the largest fundraising brigade in the Upper Yarra, having raised $7590. Their tally was helped by a whopping $3397 raised by member Rochelle Poulton, who collected 300 used car, truck, mower and bike batteries to raise money.
Ms Poulton said it was nice to be back in person after a couple of years of taking the challenge virtually.
“There were so many people there, and it was just a really good atmosphere. Everyone was happy to see each other and really encouraging in the stair climb when people struggled in certain areas,” she said.
“As a brigade, we are extremely proud of what we managed to raise, and I’m really happy with what I got, as it was the most I’ve ever gotten in batteries. The only downside is I like to beat myself every year, so I have a big year ahead of me.”
Seville CFA raised $5687 and Warburton CFA $4115 in other efforts around the Upper Yarra.
Ms Poulton said the event helps to showcase that it’s okay if you are struggling.
“People just need to know that they’re not alone, there is help there for them, and people are willing to help them,” she said.
“It’s amazing how much we were all able to raise and share in knowledge as well, like with all of our Facebook pages hitting different audiences. It’s a really rewarding thing to be able to say that you’ve done and it’s an amazing experience to do it with people.”
Funds were raised for Lifeline, Fortem and the 000Foundation to improve support services, fund
research, remove stigmas and raise awareness for mental health issues such as depression,
PTSD and suicide.
