LifeLine Warriors have taken up the cause by challenging themselves and others to get out there, make a difference and raise awareness for mental health.
Cape Town, South Africa (25 November 2020) – Local free telephonic counselling service, LifeLine Western Cape, has seen a recent wave of local warriors taking up the reins to not only support the organisation but also create awareness for mental health in the mainstream arena. These LifeLine Warriors have taken up the cause by challenging themselves and others to get out there and make a difference.
Eight times national Junior Mountain biking champion, currently ranked number 1 in South Africa, Luke Moir, recently reached out to his followers and asked them to donate monies to LifeLine Western Cape at the XCO National Championships, where he raced in memory of his close friend, Manie Lubbe.
“Manie Lubbe was a good friend of mine and helped me so much in the early days of learning to race – he sadly took his life earlier this year,” explains Luke. “I felt I needed to use the National Championships as a platform to raise awareness about the work LifeLine Western Cape does in the hope to let more people know that there is help available to them and they are not alone.”
In 2017 Kosta Papageorgiou set out to run the iconic Lion Head Mountain 500 times, thinking he was out to set a world record and nothing more. But what started as a fun running challenge has grown into a beautiful initiative that is raising funds for various local charities in the Western Cape, with LifeLine Western Cape being one of them.
“The Lion 500 Initiative was started with the intention of harnessing the pre-existing love that the world has for Loin’s Head Mountain in Cape Town. The main idea was to bring people together, to promote understanding and open conversations about mental health and encourage everybody and anybody that it’s OK to talk about their pain, their scars and connect with new people with whom they can identify and grow with,” explains Kosta.
“Lion’s Head Mountain is not only loved for its visual beauty and the scenic views it offers from the summit. It is loved, and appreciated and thus fiercely protected because of its healing properties. The mountain is filled with positive energy, radiates negative ions and befriends anybody shows it respect, love but most importantly peace. This mountain has healed broken hearts, brought peace to suffering souls, introduced people to new friends and brought loved ones together.”
Since then, the Lion 500 Initiative is known to be a beacon of hope, an ambassador for the promotion of mental health, a protector of nature on the trails and in the business of healing lives and connecting souls. On the 11th of February 2020, Kosta completed his 500th summit of Lion’s Head Mountain. His journey inspired others, and so, as he completed his 500 journey, the Lion 500 pride grew with new Lions starting their 500 journey.
Whilst out doing a 25-day walking challenge for mental health awareness and suicide prevention, Adin van Ryneveld, heard about Kosta’s Lion 500 Games and took up the challenge to do 500 vlogs for bi-polar, sharing his journey of living with this mental illness.
“I chose to do my vlogs in aid of LifeLine Western Cape as they have been a literal lifeline to me when I have been in the bouts of a very intense manic episode,” says Adin. “I wish I could remember the names of the counsellors at LifeLine Western Cape who I spoke with as they definitely saved my life! I wanted my vlogs to be a way to help raise awareness for living with Bi-polar, and to also to let people who are struggling who bi-polar know that there is ALWAYS someone out there for them to speak to, all they have to do is call.”
For more information about LifeLine Western Cape, please visit https://lifelinewc.org.za/ or contact LifeLine Western Cape Offices 021 4611111
Whatsapp Counselling Line 063 709 2620 (09h30 to 22h00)
Face-to-face appointments 021 4611113 (office hours).
All services are free of charge.
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