RURAL suicide claims far too many lives each year throughout the country and region but with the help of local residents the issue will be put in the spotlight once again.
The dark tragedy will be brought to light next year at the hands of national and local shearers.
Earlier this month the Glencoe Woolshed launched the 2019 National Blade Shearing Championships, which will raise funds for rural suicide prevention.
The idea of hosting the fundraiser flowed from a conversation between senior shearer Janine Midgley and Apsley’s ‘boss shearer’ and mentor Richie Foster at a shearing event.
Janine said in the decades spent shearing she has come to realise “there is a lot going on in the industry”.
“I have been in the industry for 30 years and shorn for 23 and there is a lot going on in farming, agriculture and shearing,” she said.
“From depression to suicide and all other forms of mental health.
“I have always wanted to and we wanted to raise awareness and see how we can help.”
Janine and Richie’s personal experiences with mental health were also a catalyst for the fundraising event, which they hope will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and make a big noise in suicide prevention.
“I never said too much about my depression,” Richie said.
“It’s accepted a lot more and I talk about it now, but at one time people just used to shut up.”
Planning is already well under way for the championships which will be managed by the Blade Shearing Revival Group and held at the Glencoe Woolshed in March next year.
It follows from Janine’s highly successful “Ducks on the Pond” day in Harrow where $30,000 was raised for cancer research.
The event is expected to attracts thousands of competitors and onlookers, giving them another powerful reason to visit the Limestone Coast.
Prizes will be awarded in four divisions – open, female open, intermediate and amateurs and learners.
