Renowned for its white sandy beaches, reef diving and magnificent sunsets, Great Keppel Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef has a new claim to fame this month – Healthy Harold fever has taken hold!
The Great Keppel Island Hideaway team have signed on for the Healthy Harold Hundred challenge, after Tamara Evans, a Yeppoon resident and the island’s bar and bistro supervisor, heard about the month-long challenge and urged her work mates to sign on and take a stand against bullying.
“I remember Healthy Harold and the Life Ed program from when I was a kid,” Tamara says.
“Our team on Keppel is very active and they try to stay fit, so I said, ‘Hey guys! You want to jump on board?’ And it went from there. Now the dive hut guys are involved and several managers.”
Bullying affects bystanders too
As a mum of a 14-year-old daughter, Tamara says bullying is an issue which concerns her.
“I read about the statistics on depression. Looking back, I remember how daunting school could be when you don’t want to be there; when you don’t feel like you fit in,” Tamara says.
“If we can change that attitude, more kids will be keen to go to school; get a better education and just be happier.
“My daughter hasn’t experienced bullying too much, but she will sometimes tell me about friends who are being bullied. It still affects young people even if they are not being bullied firsthand.”
GKI Hideaway team support
Great Keppel Island Hideaway Group Manager Kelly Harris said Tamara’s contagious enthusiasm had motivated a total of 10 staff from GKI Hideaway to get behind the Healthy Harold Hundred.
“We’ve all grown up with Healthy Harold teaching us the ways to stay healthy: teaching kids about the harms of drugs, smoking and alcohol, the importance of eating healthy and good hygiene such as cleaning our teeth, so we were keen to support Tamara and join the challenge,” Kelly said.
“It shows great initiative on Tamara’s part to support the cause and it means we can all get a bit fit at the same time,” he said.
“Tamara feels very passionate about the anti-bullying message and we’re more than happy to support where we can. She wants all kids to feel safe growing up and have positive healthy relationships and not negative detrimental ones.”
With 17 beautiful beaches on the island to explore and bushland hikes galore, the Hideaway team has no shortage of options to complete their 100k challenge and they’re getting into the spirit with Healthy Harold retro headbands.
Here at team Healthy Harold Hundred, we can’t think of a better place to do the challenge and we salute the Great Keppel Island Hideaway team for their support.
To support the Great Keppel Island Hideaway team and help raise funds for Life Ed Queensland’s respectful relationships programs in schools across Queensland, head to the Hideaway Team page on the Healthy Harold Hundred website.
*As seen published in CQ Today on 21 June 2022.
