Community & Business
9 August, 2023
Climbing mountains for mental health
Former Clifton resident Shelley Burchett was part of a crew from the Darling Downs who climbed to the Mount Everest Base Camp in May, raising money for Toowoomba-based charity Momentum Mental Health.
An incredible $105,000 total was raised by the group of close to 20 people, including an $8,500 sum from Shelley’s fundraising efforts.
Now a Toowoomba resident, Shelley, the daughter of Steve and Jo Collier, grew up in Clifton and attended school here.
Shelley said reaching the Base Camp was phenomenal.
“It was pretty awesome. I was quite emotional,” she said.
Mount Everest Base Camp has an elevation of over 5,000 metres, more than double the height of Australia’s tallest peak, Mount Kosciuszko.
Shelley said training for the trip was not easy in the Toowoomba environment, where the elevation is around 700 metres.
To prepare as best they could in the weeks and months leading to the trek, the group would get together to walk and hike.
Despite her accomplish-ment, it was never a dream of Shelley’s to climb Mount Everest.
She said the chairperson of Momentum Mental Health, a friend of hers, approached her with the opportunity and the chance to raise money for the charity appealed to her.
Momentum Mental Health’s mission of helping those facing mental health issues is important to her, so to take part in raising money for a worthwhile cause was an easy decision to make.
The trip to Everest was two weeks long.
Shelley said a highlight of the trip, aside from reaching the Base Camp, was when they found out they had reached their fundraising goal just 2.5 kilometres from Base Camp.
Not all of the group made it to the base camp, with altitude sickness making it difficult to go on.
“It was very challenging,” Shelley said.
“I was pretty crook to be honest.”
Despite the pain, it was well worth it for Shelley.
“It was cool being able to raise that much money.”
Greenmount resident and Toowoomba Region Councillor Megan O’Hara Sullivan also took part in the trip, raising $6,400.
Momentum Mental Health provides free resources, including group and one-on-one sessions, for those seeking help with their mental health challenges in Toowoomba, Warwick and Chinchilla.
