JELLY wrestling in a pub was always bound to raise a few eyebrows, but event organiser Natalie Cox says she never expected it to received such an angry reaction.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Men’s mental health issues are a cause close to Ms Cox’s heart after she witnessed her uncle be diagnosed with manic depression.
It resulted in him no long being able to compete as a professional sportsperson and it put a strain on his family and supporters.
Ms Cox wanted to help other men like her uncle so she organised a jelly wrestling competition at the Elephant and Castle hotel on Friday night with all funds raised to go to mental health charity Beyond Blue.
“I knew that it would raise some eyebrows and I knew it’d raise discussion,” she said. “In order to get impact and results you need to draw a crowd, men aren’t going to go to a high tea. Wrestling is an Olympic sport.”
But, the event she has spent weeks organising has now come to the attention of the Beyond Blue who have asked Ms Cox to remove its branding from her promotion
A Beyond Blue spokeswoman said while the event may have been organised “with the very best of intentions”, it should not have been approved.
“The event is out of step with Beyond Blue’s values … we apologise unreservedly to all concerned and to anyone who is offended,” she said.
Ms Cox said she was shocked to learn that a group of local woman had put in a complaint to Beyond Blue and feared the charity may have been “bullied into” withdrawing its support.
She said the event was never meant to be derogatory to the eight women who volunteered to wrestle for a cause they believe in.
Ms Cox said in addition to the wrestling, she will ask every man in attendance to visit the Beyond Blue website to “self-assess” in order to help educate them about the mental health tools available to them.
Beyond Blue will now conduct an immediate review of its fundraising registration process and approvals systems.
Beyond Blue statement
A COMMUNITY fundraising event is being held at the Elephant and Castle Hotel in Bathurst on 23 June 2017.
The event is registered as a community member organised Beyond Blue Bash fundraiser, with proceeds to be donated to support Beyond Blue's work. The money raised will go towards supporting the mental health of men, women and children.
We acknowledge that all involved have organised the event with the very best of intentions, have followed our beyondblue Bash event registration process and worked hard to make it happen.
Their aim is to raise money to help improve the lives of people affected by depression and anxiety and to prevent suicide.
We acknowledge this and thank them for their efforts.
However, Beyond Blue should not have approved this event as a community fundraiser in the first place or agreed to associate our name with an activity of this nature.
The event is out of step with Beyond Blue’s values. We strive to reduce stigma and discrimination about depression and anxiety, and to generate respectful, positive conversations and behaviour that create positive change around mental health.
Beyond Blue has asked the event organisers to remove our branding from their materials.
We apologise unreservedly to all concerned and to anyone who is offended.
Our registration process and internal review did not pick up on the specific activities of this fundraiser in a timely manner.
As a result we are conducting an urgent review of our fundraising registration process and approval systems to ensure this does not happen again.
Each year, thousands of people across the community register as fundraisers to raise money for Beyond Blue. We thank them, and all those who donate, for their support.