Portarlington SUPer highlights suicide awareness

A PORTARLINGTON residentl is putting his paddling endurance to the test this month in the fight to increase suicide awareness.

Wayne Singleton is taking on the challenge of bringing suicide prevention and awareness to the fore of community conversation, through Lifeline’s Paddle Across The Bay initiative.

“I noticed this initiative prior to COVID and thought it would be a really good physical challenge,” he said.

“Then in the ensuing few years I had a really good mate who lost his son to suicide in 2021, so that added more incentive and motivation for me to help Lifeline in their endeavours.

“Everyone goes through rough patches and Lifeline is there to help people, suicide touches a lot of people and Lifeline is there to help.”

The Paddle Across The Bay initiative is Australia’s largest stand-up paddle (SUP) event and sees participants travel from Brighton Beach to Port Melbourne.

Mr Singleton said the 10km paddle on February 24 would take SUPers between 90 minutes and two hours to complete the trip across Port Phillip Bay.

The initiative also has a fundraising portion, which Mr Singleton is presently leading among individual fundraisers this year.

Mr Singleton’s fundraiser has already raised more than $2,600 and is about $300 away from his $3,000 fundraising goal.

He said he had been blown away by the Portarlington community’s support.

“I initially set a goal of $1,000 but I hit that pretty quickly, then I moved it to $2,000 and we did pretty well there too, so we have a few more days to try and get it up to $3,000 which would be amazing if we can reach that goal.

“It doesn’t have to be a large donation, any donation makes a difference, but I did not expect the level of support I have received.

“I certainly didn’t expect to be sitting at number one for individual fundraisers, I’ll just be happy to get through the paddle – but it’s really humbling to see this support from the community.”

To donate to Mr Singleton’s fundraiser before his paddle, click HERE

If you need immediate help, phone Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, headspace on 1800 650 890 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636