Lifeline Western Melbourne will help Western United tackle mental health in the community after signing on as the Club’s new Charity Partner for the 2023/24 season.
The brand new partnership agreement has been facilitated by Victoria University, who have worked with both Western United and Lifeline Western Melbourne over a number of years.
The partnership will be seen for the first time at the Liberty A-League Women fixture on Friday evening with a sausage sizzle at City Vista, where all proceeds will go to Lifeline Western Melbourne.
Lifeline Western Melbourne is part of a network comprising 41 centres, 10,000 volunteers and 1,000 employees to provide lifesaving support and infrastructure for those in need in the community.
Each year, over one million Australians reach out to Lifeline for support, with mental health illness recognised as the second highest stipulated disease affecting people in Tarneit, making this an important issue at the heart of Western United’s work on and off the football pitch.
Western United takes mental health and wellbeing incredibly seriously, and part of this partnership will include mental health training for Club staff and players.
Western United General Manager of Commercial Chris Speldewinde said Lifeline Western Melbourne’s work in the West resonated with the Club’s ongoing commitment to its people.
“We acknowledge the role we can play in supporting our western Melbourne community and we are thrilled to be partnering with Lifeline Western Melbourne to tackle mental health,” he said.
“It has been great to bring this partnership to life through support from our Premier Partner Victoria University and now Principal Partner Sharp EIT Solutions, highlighting the significant role Lifeline Western Melbourne plays in our local community.”
Michael Parker, Lifeline Head of Corporate and Community Partnerships (VIC), shared his delight at aligning his organisations values with congruent values at Western United.
“Lifeline Western Melbourne is delighted to be working alongside Western United as Charity Partner for season 2023/24. At Lifeline, we work in the community for the community, so it is great to be aligning with an organsation who shares such a strong commitment to supporter and mental health and wellbeing of the local community,” he said.
“We believe it is vital for Lifeline Western Melbourne to partner with organisations like Western United to ensure we play our part in supporting people with their mental health and wellbeing.”
Together with Principal Partner Sharp EIT Solutions, Western United will raise money for Lifeline Western Melbourne this season via a funding partnership.
Sharp EIT Solutions will conduct an assessment of an organisation’s current IT solutions spend and provide a proposal detailing potential savings.
That total amount of savings for the organisation will then be donated to Lifeline Western Melbourne to assist in their work in the community.
To express interest in Lifeline’s Crisis Supporter Training, contact Lifeline at ldtraining@lifeline.org.au.
Visit the Lifeline website for more information and services
If you or anyone you know needs support or if this story has caused you any distress, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
