Received through personal email from Manuel:-
It Is a pleasure to formally announce the approval By Wollongong City Council of the Autorama Illawarra Car & Bike Expo to be held on Sunday 17th February 2013. This event is being held to help raise funding for Lifeline’s Post suicide Support Service for the Illawarra region.
Congratulations to The Rotary Club of Wollongong South, The NSW Muscle Car Assoc and Easts Berkeley Sports Club on launching this outstanding Fundraising event to support Lifeline’s Post Suicide Support Service in the local Illawarra Area.
Whilst our region has existing and established Suicide Prevention Programs and Services , our region lacks the structured support service for those that are left behind , following the tragedy of someone taking their own life. In a study in the Preceding’s of the National Academy of Science, the researchers found an increase of up to 15 per cent in the relative risk of suicide when times are bad. Similar results have been published in the British Medical Journal, indicating an * per cent rise for men and 9 per cent rise for women in periods of economic stress!!
An unfortunate fact is that not all suicides are able to be prevented, with the tragedy of suicide , it’s a very real and devastating occurrence within our local community. Our tight community minded local population his astounded that there is no dedicated Post Suicide Support Service in our region , with federal and State funding being sadly overlooked in budget allocations.
This hole in our community support structure has been identified by Mr Gio Zappia , who has been directly affected by this tragedy through the death of a close family friend , and he has gathered support to make a change . As a member of the Rotary Club Wollongong South & The NSW Muscle Car assoc , he has gathered support from the Rotary Club , NSW Muscle Car Assoc & Easts Berkeley Sports Club and sponsors such as Volcan Ford to help raise funds to enable Lifeline to establish a local Post Suicide Support Service here in the Illawarra .
Today we often think of our own future , with hopes and dreams not imagining the tragedy of a suicide within our close group of family & friends . But when the unimaginable happens , we are in trouble trying to cope with what must be done to continue living and grieving over the one we have lost , all without professional and trained support during the emotional crisis .
The inaugural “Autorama Illawarra” is an event to raise funds to help establish this service for our local community . Looking forward to a successful day and would like to encourage everyone to get involved and support the day by sponsoring the event , attending or simply making a donation to the Rotary Club Of Wollongong South as they host along with the NSW Muscle Car Assoc a growing and successful annual event for the family to attend .
