Collingwood midfielder Dayne Beams has spoken out about his indefinite leave from footy and his decision to auction his 2010 premiership medal to help support the bushfire cause.
The 29-year old stepped away from footy in December to address his ongoing mental health issues that caused him to miss a significant part of last season.
Beams is tracking well after a few weeks off, having found solace in art.
โIโm going pretty well,โ he toldย SEN Afternoons.
โIโve found a bit of purpose with my art. Iโve decided to create aย website for itย and all the stuff I was doing was just stacking up in my sonโs room so we had to get rid of it somehow.
โWe thought weโd team up with a mental health organisation and weโll sell some pieces and Iโll donate a percentage of those to the Love Me Love You foundation who support mental health and do a wonderful job in that space.
โThatโs been going really well for me and I said, itโs given me a purpose outside of footy and it has been really good for my head and itโs something I find really therapeutic. It has been really good for me.โ
The auction for his medal has just ticked over $24,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, with Beams finding inspiration from Shane Warne.
The Australian cricket great put his baggy green on auction, which sat at $200,000 an hour after opening and is currently at over $300,000.
โI actually follow Warney on Instagram and I saw his post with his baggy green and it got me thinking 'what can I do?' and I thought one of my prized possessions is my premiership medallion and I decided to whack it up for auction and try to raise money for all the victims that have been impacted by the fires,โ Beams toldย SEN Afternoons.
โI guess for me itโs a material object. For me, the things I treasure most are the ones in my head.
โIโve got a lot of great memories of the premiership and theyโre never going to go away.
โIt sits in my top drawer at home so itโs not in any place where anyone can see it. It just sits in my drawer and I just thought thereโs a lot of people out there who need help and I can sell it and raise as much money as I can.
โI think Australia as a nation has been touched by the devastation of the fires and thereโs been a lot of sports people in the sporting fraternity who have come together.
โI love living in this country because when times are tough we always get behind one another so it is the least I can do.โ
Beams was hoping to raise $30,000, with the auction ending on Wednesday afternoon.
โOriginally I was going to run my own auction on Instagram and it got a bit out of control and I couldnโt keep up with it all,โ he said.
โOne of my mates works at Lloydโs Auctions and he got onto me and asked me if I wanted to put it on the website.
โItโs now on Lloydโs auctions and the link is in my bio on Instagram.
โWeโre aiming to get it over $30,000.
โItโs still in great condition. It hasnโt really left the drawer. Whoever gets it is going to be in possession of a pretty prized item.โ
