Tower plunge

Three people from the Lower South West took on the Central Park Plunge at the weekend, abseiling 220m down a Perth skyscraper to raise money for charity.

Dusty Swallow and Kirby Bendotti, of Pemberton, took the challenge together and raised $5000 for MSWA between them.

Ms Bendotti said they were pleased they had managed to raise so much, and that some of their family had been able to come up to the top of the tower to watch.

“They were given VIP access, it was amazing that they were able to come up with us,” she said.

“I think I want to do it again sometime soon, although I do not think the same can be said for Dusty, he is scared of heights and I am very impressed he came along and took part in this event with me.”

She said overall, the event had raised $440,000 across all the charities, with $90,000 of the total raised for MSWA.

Department of Biodiversity, Conservations and Attractions fire scientist Valerie Densmore, also of Pemberton, was part of a team of four who raised money for Cahoots.

Included in her team was the Minister for Women’s Interests Simone McGurk.

“The department is trying to get more women involved in firefighting, the percentage has dropped in recent years and this was a great opportunity to show there are women involved in the industry, as well as raise money for a great cause,” she said.

“It is pretty exhilarating, we ended up free-falling for a lot of it which started out as scary but I ended up enjoying it in the end.”