Wyndham’s fire brigades will put their best footy skills on display in a game against umpires from the Western Region Football League, in support of mental health.
Hoppers Crossing Fire Brigade captain Paul DiMartino said he hoped the event would encourage people who were struggling in silence to seek support.
“The last four or five years we felt mental health was so important [and] the stigma around umpiring and fireys are generally male-orientated,” Mr DiMartino said.
“We really wanted to try and promote [that] it’s okay to seek help, and we’ve all experienced way too much.”
The community event has been running since about 2008, and Mr DiMartino said the money raised from the $10 entry fee will be donated to a worthy cause.
“This year, we chose beyond blue, next year we might chose a different organisation,” he said.
The game will be played on September 18, at Avalon Airport Werribee, from 10.30am.
After the match, a spokesperson will share with attendees their own experiences with mental health to “really get the conversation going”.
“If I talk about committee, we’ve all lost someone to sucide, the rates of suicide is concerning and we felt it was important to say ‘hey, we’ve got issues and we want to talk about’.”
