Stephen gave the following speech in Parliament on the 11th of September, 2019.
"Here in parliament today I take the opportunity to speak about a fantastic volunteer organisation in Morphett, the Glenelg Rotary Club. On Sunday 25 August, the Glenelg Rotary Club held their annual signature fundraising event, the Cold Plunge, at Glenelg beach to raise valuable funds to help fight homelessness.
The Cold Plunge was started in August 2014 by former Glenelg Rotarian Jessie Vun. Jessie brought the idea of the Cold Plunge back from her time spent in Russia while she was on a teaching stint. Her reasoning was that, while a few minutes in cold water in winter cannot compare with spending night after night on the streets, she hoped it would act as an eye-opener and raise awareness of the cold experienced by those living on the streets.
The Cold Plunge has been running for six years, and I can tell you, Mr Speaker, the water over those years has not become any warmer. Most years, while the water is cold, we have usually had blue skies and calm waters, which certainly helps ease the trepidation that plungers feel as they line up on Glenelg beach ready to run into the freezing water. Last year, however, the plungers were confronted with the Glenelg 'stormy', with waves pushed up by strong offshore winds and waters churned up with sand. Despite these harsh conditions, the brave plungers went ahead and entered the water, including the member for Black and myself.
Luckily, this year's Cold Plunge, which was two weekends ago, saw a return to calmer conditions, although unfortunately numbers may have been down because of last year. Amongst those brave plungers were those from the Glenelg Rotary Club and other Rotary clubs around Adelaide. I was also joined by the members for Colton and Reynell and councillors from Holdfast Bay council. We were also thrilled to see the first South Australian to win Miss Teen Diamond Australia, Arundhati, taking part. We were all sponsored to dive in and stay in the freezing water for five minutes.
Alison Rogers from the Glenelg Rotary Club sent us off into the water, and you could hear the air sucked out of the plungers as they hit the icy cold water followed by what some might say were shouts of exhilaration; others might say pain. Alison kept a running commentary on the time remaining—from the safety of the shore, I should add—and it has to be said that it felt like time slowed down over those five minutes. While the waves were not as big as they normally are, it certainly meant you could not get comfortable. Alison made sure we all went underwater at some stage rather than keep our heads dry.
At this stage, I should mention the volunteer lifesavers from the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club who gave up their morning to go into the water to keep the plungers safe. Thanks to volunteers Eddie Waugh, Rob Warne and Conner Jones. Conner is a young lad who, at the recent surf lifesaving awards, was recognised for performing over 150 volunteer patrol hours, so all credit goes to him. Certainly, once the Cold Plunge was over, we were able to dry off, warm up a little bit and make our way back up to the front lawn of the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club, where the Glenelg Rotary Club made a roaring trade from the barbecue and cake stalls.
Current president, Rosie Erasmus, thanked the plungers and introduced me to the two charities that this year's plunge was raising funds for. One of those charities was Helping Young People Achieve (HYPA), which provides services and support to assist young people in securing a safe, stable home environment to make it easier for them to stay in work or engage in learning. The other charity was Our Street Family Matters, which provides a street service run by volunteers for homeless people in Adelaide. Liz O'Connell from HYPA and AJ from Our Street Family Matters were both present and they were very thankful for the support that the Glenelg Rotary Club was giving them in raising much-needed funds.
While the Cold Plunge is certainly an important fundraiser, the club is also active throughout the rest of the year raising funds and supporting other community organisations, including Meals on Wheels, Glenelg branch. At the recent AGM for the Glenelg Meals on Wheels, it was certainly a pleasure to be present to see Wayne Sachs accept a 45-year service award on behalf of Glenelg Rotary Club, which recognised the longstanding relationship and support that has been provided by the club to Meals on Wheels to provide meals to those in need in the local community. Congratulations to president Rosie Erasmus and the entire Glenelg Rotary Club on a successful year. I look forward to next year's Cold Plunge."
