Riverina Bluebell hosts droving away the blues fundraiser

By Hannah Paine

Updated October 25 2016 - 7:32am, first published October 24 2016 - 6:30pm

https://www.theland.com.au/story/4246793/health-under-hammer/

Those at Wagga saleyards on Monday morning could be forgiven for thinking they imagined the extra zero on one cow’s sell price.

A GOOD CAUSE: Riverina Bluebell's Mac Armytage and Chris Wilson at the Wagga Livestock Marketing Centre on Monday. Picture: Nikki Reynolds

Wagga RSL Club general manager Andrew Bell paid an eye-watering $10,000 for the sought-after beast, drawing gasps from onlookers. 

But the hefty price wasn’t the result of a sudden spike in beef prices, rather a very worthy cause.

Mr Bell was among several buyers who purchased 11 donated cattle from Riverina Bluebell to aid mental health awareness in Wagga and surrounds.

The RSL made the high price charity bid because so many of its own members were affected by mental illness, Mr Bell said. 

“It’s a very fitting cause for the area we live in,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of farming country around us, and we are very aware that mental illness can strike anyone, we are trying to help prevent that.” 

Riverina Bluebell founder Chris Wilson said spreading mental health awareness was just as important as the $25,000 raised from the sales.

The Wantabadgery farmer struggled with often crippling depression for years before he sought help. 

“It’s another creative way for us to get the message across about the importance of good mental health,” Mr Wilson said.

“It’s about the message rather than the money.” 

After the sales, Mr Wilson said some people even stepped forward to share their stories of mental ill-health.

“We feel it is really important that everyone gets the message – whether they are healthy, or whether they are crook,” he said.

“Everyone should be able to tackle this issue, because people that are crook, they need help from their close family and friends to get them on the journey to recovery.”

Mr Wilson said Wagga RSL’s $10,000 purchase wouldn’t see any rising bistro beef prices, but the high price would mean greater mental health outreach. 

“I’d like to let people know the price of steaks won’t be going through the roof at the RSL, it’s still great value for money to eat there,” he said.

Instead, Mr Bell’s prized purchase will be fattened up and later sold on, with the profits from that second sale going back to Riverina Bluebell. 

“That will hopefully be another $1500 or $2000,” Mr Bell said.

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