Tee off for mental health

Golf Classic sponsor Elders Insurance's Sam Stoneley, right, with his son Jamie and Lifeline Geelong's Raechel Gleeson at The Sands Torquay. (Ivan Kemp) 419348_02

By Jena Carr

Lifeline Geelong is on the lookout for individuals and groups to tee off for mental health in this year’s Golf Classic.

The Lifeline Geelong Golf Classic will return to The Sands Torquay on Friday, September 6, with a four-person per team tournament.

Corporate and community partnerships manager Michael Parker said the Golf Classic was in its second year of spreading awareness of Lifeline Geelong’s volunteers’ work.

“The Lifeline Classic is an opportunity for community to come together for a golf day and raise funds for Lifeline so that we can train more volunteers to answer calls for people in crisis,” he said.

“There’s a number of novelty holes and a ($10,000) cash prize for the hole-in-one competition. There’ll also be raffles and all sorts of activities on the day, so it should be a fun day.”

Mr Parker said many people didn’t realise that Lifeline centres relied on community support to keep services running, with each call to Lifeline costing $39 and $3500 for crisis support training.

“It’s a really important and fun way to spread the message around looking after yourself and your mental health,” he said.

“The link between physical activity and mental health has been proven that increased physical activity helps improve people’s mental health.

“It’s a great way to get out in the fresh air, in nature and enjoy social time with some mates or workmates… You can also get support from the people you’re close with or others on the course.”

Registrations and sponsorship opportunities for the Lifeline Geelong Golf Classic are now open. Visit Lifeline Geelong’s website for more information or to sign up.

Lifeline receives close to 6070 crisis calls from the Geelong region per year. Help is available with Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 13 Yarn on 13 92 76.