We are still buzzing from our recent Mayday Event, held at the beautiful Regent Plaza Ballroom!
First Step was selected by The Corcous Club as their 2023 Charity Partner. The Club was formed by a group of mates who wanted to do good, so set up an annual sports-themed fundraising luncheon, each year picking a different, grassroots, charity to support.
This was a BIG deal for First Step.
Not only did we raise $90,000, but we were able to talk about our work with 325 guests!
The event was jam-packed – Patrick played the piano (did you know he was a concert pianist?!), and it just so happened that the MC, Richard Thomas from Jeffrey, Thomas and Partners was a tenor, so they collaborated to perform Nessun Dorma, which was spine-tingling!
After tickling the ivories, Patrick then took the room on a hypothetical thought experiment. A lot of our work is focussed on reducing stigma and encouraging more compassion and understanding towards people with mental health and addiction issues. And that’s what this thought experiment did. You could hear a pin drop.
And to really solidify our message, First Step Advocate Rich Corby shared his powerful story of recovery.
To lighten the mood, we had international Speed Painter (did you know there is such a thing!?) Brad Blaze wow us with two amazing artworks in under 15 minutes, which he then auctioned off for us!
Through the generosity of so many local businesses, we had almost 50 silent auction items, and a few live auction items, including a bronze bust of St Kilda Football Legend Darrel Baldock.
Keeping with the St Kilda Football Club theme, we had former Presidents Rod Butterss and Andrew Plympton, along with former CEO Brian Waldron on a panel that was moderated by Australia’s most influential Football journalist, Mike Sheahan.
Head over to our Facebook page to see photos from the day:
