Raising Funds and Awareness

Author: Kate Cook

On Friday the 12th of July there was the distinct smell of a BBQ in the Melbourne Market, as LaManna Premier Group held an event to raise funds for Beyond Blue and play their part in starting conversations about mental health awareness.

Although those that work in the Melbourne Market are often short on sleep, they never fail to get behind a good cause and that is exactly what took place at LaManna Premier Group’s fundraising BBQ in the Melbourne Market. At 5am the grill was hot and market users started to arrive after a long night of trading. Everyone seemed happy to contribute to the cause, especially as 100% of contributions donated at the BBQ were going directly to Beyond Blue.

Joe Manatiri, LaManna Premier Group’s General Manager of Trading, was on the BBQ cooking up a storm and was more than happy to fill us in on why the company was holding this event. “We’re planning to hold one of these in all the central markets… in a male dominated industry and especially with the hours we work, conversations about mental health are important which is why we chose to do this and support Beyond Blue”.

Joe Manatiri, LaManna Premier Group General Manager of Trading

A total of over $13,000 was raised at this one event, which is a great result and a testament to the generosity of the Melbourne Market community, and there will surely be more to come as LaManna Premier continues to run these fundraisers across the Australian central markets. LaManna Premier would like to say a special thank you to the companies that made significant contributions on the day, which were Robinson’s Fresh Solutions, Fresh State, and the Melbourne Market Authority.

Although men may have been traditionally taught to bottle things up, this is a likely cause of the high statistics being recorded about males experiencing mental health issues — currently one in eight men will experience depression and one in five men will experience anxiety at some point in their lives. By opening up conversations about mental health and showing that it is a positive thing to seek information and assistance from organisations such as Beyond Blue or other mental health services, we may be able to reduce the stigma around mental health issues so that people can access help whenever they need it.