12 June 2024
Navy’s Maritime Geospatial Warfare Unit (MGWU) marked the start of the Push-Up Challenge with morning tea and a discussion about mental health.
Twenty-seven members from the unit have signed up to complete 3249 push-ups from June 5-28, with each one representing a life lost to suicide in Australia in 2022.
Each daily target during the challenge was designed to reflect a mental health fact.
Participants and their sponsorship networks learn useful information regarding mental health, which encourages conversation and reduces the stigma surrounding mental ill-health.
On the first day, members completed 52 push-ups and raised more than $1500 in support of Lifeline.
Commanding Officer MGWU Commander Amy Bulters was proud of her team for getting involved.
“We have all been touched in some way or another by mental ill-health, and I am pleased to see you all getting behind this great cause,” she said.
Leading Seaman Patricia Wilson said she was supporting the Push-Up Challenge to reduce the stigma around talking about mental ill-health.
“In older generations there was shame attached to saying you need help,” she said.
“I feel like that isn’t the case anymore and people are able to talk and support each other.”
The MGWU comprises deployable geospatial survey teams, deployable meteorological teams and support staff who provide the ADF with precise and timely hydrographic, meteorological and oceanographic information to aid operations and exercises.
To make a donation in support of the Push-Up Challenge, with funds going to Lifeline, go to www.thepushupchallenge.com.au/fundraisers/mgwu
