Konica Minolta’s Andrew Ward is hard at it again with the third annual Head Above Water 24-hour swim-a-thon to be held in Sydney next month to raise much needed funds for mental health programs.

So far the swim-a-thon has raised over $160,000 to support mental health on Sydney’s northern beaches and anyone in the industry that would like to be involved either as a swimmer or a helper on the day is urged to sign up here.

The swim-a-thon at the Collaroy Rockpool starts at 8am on Saturday March 20 and finishes at 8am on Sunday March 21.

Andrew Ward, Konica Minolta manager, channel and strategic implementations says the event is open to swimmers of all abilities with each swimmer able to choose how many laps they would like to sign up for.

“There are four lanes to cater for all levels of swimming ability and people can choose to swim as many, or as few laps as they like,” says Ward.

“Every swimmer has the opportunity to raise money via their own sponsorship page or can form a team to raise even more money.”

Over the last two years, Head Above Water has partnered with Gotcha4Life, founded by media personality Gus Worland, to help fund mental fitness workshops including Tomorrow Man, Tomorrow Woman and Man Anchor, for Northern Beaches schools, sports clubs, businesses and community groups.

Man Anchor is another mental health advocacy group closely aligned with the printing industry with Bottcher national sales manager, Steven Gamble, having established that group to help raise awareness about suicide prevention.

To date, more than 6,000 people have participated in workshops, creating a real positive impact on the peninsula.

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