Ms Freemantle is a Tatura and Northwest Mooroopna CFA volunteer who will participate in this year’s Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb to raise money in honour of someone she lost to mental health.
The Annual Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb is a fundraiser taking place in September where firefighters and emergency personnel from across Australia climb 28 floors in 25kg of turnout gear as a symbol of the uphill battles that first responders and their families face daily.
The fundraiser intends to raise $750,000 for charity organisations Lifeline, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and 000Foundation.
Ms Freemantle lost a close friend a few years ago and has participated in the gruelling stair climb ever since.
“One of my mates that I went on a camp with and met through the CFA unfortunately lost his battle to mental health ... so there’s a couple of us that always do it for him,” Ms Freemantle said.
This year will be her second year fundraising for Lifeline and mental health awareness in honour of her friend.
Ms Freemantle represents the northern Victorian region in the stair climb.
Her brother, Hayden Freemantle, will also tackle the gruelling climb.
She joined the Tatura CFA’s juniors and state championship team at 14 and became an operational firefighter at 16.
As an operational firefighter, Ms Freemantle battles some bad fires once summer rolls around, but for her, the stair climb is the most challenging battle of all.
“The climb sucks, like it is genuinely the worst 20 minutes of your life when you go in, but it's a really good thing to support,” she said.
Ms Freemantle is currently studying in Melbourne, but still makes time to volunteer for her local CFA units and participates in important events such as the stair climb.
She is currently advocating for the CFA as part of the volunteer recruitment campaign ‘Give Us a Hand,’ which launched last year.
The campaign has already seen 1800 new members recruited across Victoria.
Ms Freemantle said she loved being a volunteer because it had introduced her to more people and has taught her valuable skills.
“The best thing about firefighting with the CFA, even though I’m down in Melbourne, I still find time to fit it in — it’s so flexible, you can really just work your own hours,” Ms Freemantle said.
“My advice to people who study full-time or have full-time jobs is volunteering is flexible, and you can suit it to your own schedule.”
The Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb is on Saturday, September 7. Before then, you can donate to support Charlotte Freemantle's fundraising efforts on her page.
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