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LOCAL LIFE
ONE OF THE HAWKESBURY’ S FINEST...
Gemma King was honoured for her amazing fundraising achievements by taking home two prestigious community awards in 2024. by Greg Martin
South Windsor couple Tracy and Ron King showed remarkable foresight when they christened their daughter, Gemma— because the now 19-year-old truly is a gem!
For the past seven years, every March, this inspirational young woman has taken to the water— not for a drink, but to swim laps and raise funds for the mental health support service, ReachOut. ReachOut provides help for young people, their parents, carers, and schools, offering one-onone chats with experienced peer workers, online forums, tips, stories, and resources. Since 2019, Gemma has donned her swimmers and cap each March, swimming lap after lap, with every touch of the pool wall adding a few more dollars to her fundraising total. And there have been plenty of laps— and plenty of dollars!
In fact, since joining ReachOut’ s“ Laps for Life” campaign, Gemma has raised just over $ 20,000.
Like many young people, Gemma juggles her studies, playing other sports, and day-to-day life, but she still finds time most days in March to dive into the pool at Windsor’ s Hawkesbury Oasis Fitness and Aquatic Centre, swimming around 20km over the month.
“ On several occasions, due to sponsorship challenges, I’ ve extended the distance— once even swimming 100km,” Gemma said.
That’ s equivalent to swimming from Richmond to Bilpin and back— although thankfully, in a pool, there are no mountains to climb or descend!
And why does Gemma dedicate herself so passionately to this cause?
“ Members of our extended family have
experienced mental health issues, which inspired me to start fundraising swims in 2019,” Gemma explained.
“ But in 2021, it became even more personal when one of my closest school friends took his own life. We were both living in South Windsor and attending Year 10 at The Hills Sports High. Like so many who have experienced loss through suicide, none of us saw it coming.”
Gemma’ s tireless efforts saw her recognised last year with two significant honours— Hawkesbury Young Citizen of the Year and Hawkesbury NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year.
While she is proud of these accolades, for Gemma, the real reward is raising funds to help prevent young people from losing their lives.
Naturally, Ron and Tracy King are incredibly proud of their daughter’ s achievements— and that pride extends to her siblings. The Kings truly struck gold with their children!
In fact, you could rename 23-year-old Katie-Lee as Ruby and 17-year-old Jackson as Jadeite( look it up!).
Katie-Lee is an Emergency Ward Nurse at Westmead Children’ s Hospital, while Jackson is awaiting the completion of major renovations at Richmond’ s historic Regent Theatre, where he will take on the role of Events Manager, working alongside Operations Manager Brendan Newman.
“ The Regent Theatre has been one of my biggest supporters, along with Windsor Woolworths, Repco, and Bunnings at McGraths Hill,” Gemma said.
“ Before the theatre closed for renovations in 2023, owners Michael Dimech and Duncan MacKay donated $ 5 from every ticket sold during
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6 ISSUE 180 // MAY 2025 theindependentmagazine. com. au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT