Eilidh wanted to support those who supported her Dad (Alastair) during a time of mental crisis. She has decided to swim 238.4km's across 3 weeks from 9th - 30th January 2026 to acknowledge her Dads time in the care of Fremantle Mental Health unit (FMH) and the 2384 men lost to suicide in 2020.

Alastair is eternally grateful for the care demonstrated by FMH staff during a challenging time and hope for the future. The knowledge and skills gained from long term group therapy via Integrated Therapy Services (ITS) still guides him daily and informs how he creates safer spaces.

Eilidh will fundraise to purchase Virtual Reality (VR) headsets to enhance treatment for people with a range of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression personality disorders, psychosis, and dementia.

The headsets enable graded exposure to sources of anxiety, support controlled breathing and facilitate relaxation to help improve anxiety symptoms. They can also be used as a calming tool during periods of distress by replicating calming environments; and with people with dementia to reminisce on fond memories which stimulates cognitive function and improves wellbeing.

Each VR set, accessories and software costs $1332 and our goal is to raise $6660 to gift 5 headsets to Fremantle Mental Health Integrated Therapy Service (ITS).

A FMH working group will be formed to manage the project and Curtin university will evaluate treatment outcomes for clients through quality improvement and research activities.

Rest assured your donations will be supporting credible, direct action on mental health. Please help Eilidh swim for calm.

Reference:

Pedram S, Piatkowski T (2025). Exploring the potential of virtual reality (VR) in mental healthcare: a systematic literature review. Virtual

Reality 29:135

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-025-01181-6