By Parker McKenzie
Members of Ferntree Gully CFA will be raising funds to fight depression, PTSI and suicide by climbing 28 floors in 25 kilograms of firefighting gear in September.
The Melbourne Firefighters Stair Climb is an annual event that will return in person for 2022 on Saturday 10 September after being run virtually because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brigade Captain Sheamus Smith will be joined by other members of Ferntree Gully CFA to help raise $600,000 for Lifeline, Fortem and the 000Foundation charities.
“We’re raising money, trying to receive donations from the public and we are going to be doing a battery collection again,” he said.
“We’re about to post those details on our brigade Facebook page. People within the local area can get us to come and pick up batteries, then we can recycle them to raise money to raise funds for the event.”
In 2018 Ferntree CFA raised a record $17,264 and in 2019 members of the brigade raised $22,150, both years the highest in the state.
Capt Smith said raising funds for charitable organisations is important after a difficult few years.
“Given the mental health issues that are being talked about in the community and after the Covid-19 lockdowns and isolation, we are trying to give a boost to the funding of those organisations that save lives,” he said.
The money raised will be used to improve support services, fund research, remove stigmas and raise awareness for mental health issues.
Mr Smith said it was fantastic to see so many people from the brigade get involved in the stair climb in a variety of ways.
“We’ve actually got some people volunteering as event volunteers,” he said.
“They don’t want to actually climb the stairs but they want to come along to support the coordination and efforts on the day to make it all happen.”
In 2020, there were 3,139 deaths by Suicide Australia-wide, with 12 per cent of Australians experiencing PTSI in their life.
Capt Smith said around 600 firefighters from around Victoria would be involved in the fundraising.
“If people want to donate to us that they can go to that website firefighterclimb.org.au,” he said.
“We’re putting some posts up about the progress towards training and stuff like that so they can follow our page for updates.”
The community can track the fundraising progress or find out more about the battery collection at the Ferntree Gully CFA Facebook page or donate at firefighterclimb.org.au/station/cfa/ferntree-gully/
