Fundraiser to help emergency service charity expand

A grassroots charity support group will be given a lifeline to expand its network and reach out to more emergency service personnel when it benefits from this year’s epic Gibb Challenge.

Participants of the 700km relay are already on track to hit their $350,000 fundraising target for 2016 beneficiary Sirens of Silence in its mission to assist emergency service workers through depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and prevent suicide.

The charity was established a year ago by Broome couple Lyn and Ian Sinclair, a retired Broome ambulance volunteer and current paramedic in Port Hedland respectively, after a spate of suicides in the WA ambulance service.

Since then, Mrs Sinclair said the charity had helped hundreds of people access various kinds of support.

“We have experienced a large number of people contacting us for help,” she said.

“The number has exceeded what we initially expected and I believe it will continue to grow.

“The number that have come to us has proved that what we’re doing is needed.”

Mrs Sinclair said money from the Gibb Challenge would ensure the charity’s longevity and be channelled into various initiatives.

“We don’t have one major project, we have multiple educational and support projects,” she said.

“The money from the Gibb will go to the processes that we work under — one is raising awareness, the other is to find those professional pathways and different holistic healing and to get people into programs.”

Looking back on the past 12 months, Mrs Sinclair said she was astounded at how far the charity had progressed.

“It brings me to tears most days with pride that people believe in the dream that I had to say ‘I want to make a difference,’” she said.

“It’s so much bigger and broader than we ever expected.”

Mrs Sinclair said she believed the charity had made a difference since launching.

“We get messages of positivity all the time from ambos and police; they actually do feel there is a support network out there.”

If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.