A team of Alcoa employees has placed fifth nationally and fundraised over $12,000 for headspace Mandurah as part of this year's 2020 Push-Up Challenge.
The team of 28-strong Pinjarra Alumina Refinery employees completed over 72,000 push-ups to raise awareness of mental health for the #pushforbetter campaign.
Each team member aimed to complete 3,046 push-ups during the 21-day challenge, equaling the number of Australian lives lost to suicide in 2018.
Pinjarra Refinery manager Mark Hodgson said completing the Push-Up Challenge was something that he and his colleagues felt was important to undertake.
"If by completing these push-ups we've raised awareness of mental health challenges and the support that headspace Mandurah can offer, and we've helped change just one life, it makes every single one of the 72,000 push ups worthwhile," he said.
"Thank you to all the employees who participated and for the community who got behind us."
Forty five per cent of Australians will experience a mental health issue at some point in their life, with around 75 per cent of mental health conditions occurring for the first time before a person turns 25.
By participating in The Push-Up Challenge, the Alcoa team has been able to direct their funds to headspace Mandurah, which addresses the unique barriers young people face in accessing mental health support.
The contribution will help the service continue to promote the importance of help-seeking, breaking down the stigma of mental health issues and making sure local youth know they are not alone.
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360 Health + Community chief executive Gautam Gupta said the challenge has been an amazing opportunity for headspace centres to connect with the community.
"Bringing people together to learn, grow, support each other and work towards better health is a fantastic way to highlight and advocate for mental health supports with our young people," he said.
"The commitment, connection and generosity of individuals and businesses like Alcoa has been incredible. Thank you to those who got involved in the challenge."