Why do I care about Laps for Life so much?
- This is my third year diving
- in for youth mental health
I’m participating in laps for life for the third year this April.
While it is usually a march event I was unable to do it so I have decided to attempt 30-40kms one month late this year.
That means I’m doing 800 laps of freestyle, breaststroke and perhaps some butterfly.
Laps for life is a swimming challenge that raises money for ReachOut, an online mental health service for young people in Australia.
This is so important to me not only as someone that suffers from mental health issues but also someone that has first hand experienced the loss of way too many mates to suicide, and more personally for me, my best mate nick who took his own life at the end of 2021.
I swim for him, my other mates and all of those struggling to exist in this very difficult world.
With that being said I urge anyone that is feeling lonely, sad, helpless or depressed to talk to someone. There is help out there, there are people who are more than open to listening and I promise you there is always a better option than the finality of leaving this world forever.
you are not bothering anyone by sharing your pain, and I guarantee there are people who would pick listening to your problems every now and then than grieving over them for the rest of their lives.
You are loved, you are important and you belong here.
Reach Out is dedicated to suicide prevention and I think it’s really positive that they aim to approach the issue starting from a young age because for most people that’s where all these mental health problems start occurring. If we can teach our youth that there is help out there and meet them with the proper services, funding and awareness I believe we can start a new ripple effect that will make people happier as they travel through life.
If you want to join me for a swim this April hit me up! I’ll be spending lots of time in the pool and would love to have you join to support.
Thank you for your time and remember to give yourself some love.
My Swim Progress
I've swum
15.00km (600 laps)
My Goal
40km
How do you compare to other participants?
Average Distance Swum: 9m
Average Distance Goal: 16KM
My Impact
So far this year I helped provide...
252
Young people with vital mental health support.
Fundraising Progress
Raised
$1007
My Goal
$1,000
So far, you’ve raised 101% of your fundraising goal!
Raised
$1908
My Team Goal
$2,000
So far, you’ve raised 95% of your fundraising goal!
Raised
$3,604,293
All Goal
$3,600,000
So far, you’ve raised 101% of your fundraising goal!
Funds raised over the years
NOTE: DISPLAYS PREVIOUS 3 YEARS OF FUNDRAISING ONLY
-
2023
-
2024
Thank you to my Sponsors
$140.32
Libby Armour
$106.12
Lachlan Glenk
Hey Pat! Lovely to see you and Kalani Swimming for a cause! Hope this helps you out just a little bit! Xoxo
$100
Kathryn Shields
We are proud of your commitment Pat
$100
Sarah Lockwood
Really proud of the ripple effect you're helping to create Patty, you're the best 🙌
$94.86
Antony Burley
In memory Pat He’s be proud
$80
Pat Shields
$64.67
Gwen McKay
$56.24
Zoe Newman
Good work Pat!!
$56.24
Imaginability Social Work Services Pty Ltd
Well done Pat
$56.24
Allan Hughes
Love ya beb, here's some peas towards the cause x proud your commitment to this cause year in year out, much love, Al x
$54.12
Ursula Burley
Well done
$52
Ciaran Stapleton-Crittenden
$35
Anonymous
$11.65
Vishnu Peri
This seems sick, good luck!
