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Celebrating
the life of
Bella Canfield

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While Bella was taken far too soon, her legacy, through her passion for life, will live on forever.

Tragically on January 19th, 2022, Bella Canfield was struck by a car close to her home in Salisbury West and passed away at just 18 years old.

 

Bella was a beautiful girl inside and out with an infectious laugh and an unforgettable smile. She had so much life to live and had just been accepted into Geelong Uni to follow her dreams of becoming a nurse. ​

All those who knew Bella adored her, but she was most beloved by the devastated family she leaves behind: her parents Linda and Leigh and her 3 cherished sisters, Portia, Neve and Ava. Beyond the impact to her close family, the loss of Bella is felt by countless friends and extended family who all loved her and the joy she brought them.

Starting in 2023, to celebrate and honour the life that Bella lived, we hold an annual walk in her legacy: 

‘Follow the Sun – Walk for Bell’.

2023 Walk - Supported Righteous Pups

Bella had a true love for animals and the hugest heart for helping anyone in need, so for our first walk in 2023 we raised $35,000 for Righteous Pups. This charity raises and trains therapy and assistance dogs to support people with Epilepsy, Diabetes and Autism. The amount raised will help cover the cost of raising a recently born puppy, named Bella Rose, who will go on to enrich the life of a fortunate owner.

2024 Walk - The Code 9 Foundation

In 2024 supported Code 9 Foundation. This charity is close to our hearts following the help and support we received after Bella's accident. The foundation provides a place of support for current and veteran professional first responders and 000 operators who live with PTSD, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions that result from their service to the community.

Funds will be raised through registrations for the walk, the sale of merchandise,
generous donations, sponsorship and a silent auction.

2025 WALK:
Supporting the 

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Click Here to find out more about the Code 9 Foundation

Our President, Mark Thomas, was hospitalised and diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety in February 2013 which stemmed from a traumatic incident he attended in April 2003 whilst serving as a Victoria Police member. Whilst hospitalised, Mark felt incredibly alone and (incorrectly) thought that no other person could possibly know what he was going through.
 
Once Mark resumed full time work duties in June 2015, he started a support group so that no professional first responder would feel alone in their own mental health journeys. Mark soon met Rob (and his assistance dog “Jimmy”) and Ben, both Victoria Police officers and diagnosed with PTSD at a support group catch up and soon formed a strong bond between them. Mark, Rob and Ben hatched the idea to register the support group as a charity to sponsor assistance dogs, having seen the incredible value that “Jimmy” brought to Rob’s life.
 
The Code 9 Foundation was formally registered as a charity in April 2018. The foundation supports professional first responders that live with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions that came from their service to the community. The foundation has evolved over time and now provides a number of different services to its mentally injured members.
 
We provide healthy meals to those that are struggling heavily as diet plays such a critical role in positive mental health. This also provides an immediate lowering of stress levels to responder families going through crises. We send members away on respite weekends to have a weekend of relaxation at a destination of their choice, where we pay for the cost of accommodation.
 
Having a break away from the day to day stress of mental health crises to a new environment can help families build memories and help them heal. We organise for house and garden maintenance of members whose anxiety levels are so high, they cannot attend to these chores. We do so much more, essentially we do not have a criterion of how we can help members, if we can achieve it, we will do it to help care for our colleagues. Proudly, from inception, we have included and supported the families of our colleagues and make no distinction between serving and former members.
 
They are all part of our family. Ultimately, we want to prevent the suicide of our colleagues and anecdotally, we have achieved this however we still have members taking their lives. We will continue to do what we do, to do whatever we can to stop this from happening.

THANKS TO OUR
MAJOR SPONSORS

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