It was dark, dangerous and extremely cold.
But that was never going to deter a Cranbourne North man from plunging into the ice-cold waters at Frankston beach for a worthy cause.
Clad in just his swimwear shorts, Simon Walliker strolled into the bay at 10.30pm on Wednesday 3 July.
In his crusade he helped raise $1000 for the Cranbourne Information and Support Service (CISS), a referral organisation that provides crisis support services to the Casey South community.
“Why am I here?” he told onlookers. “(To) simulate some sort of a feeling what they (homeless) are going through.”
As president of CISS, Mr Walliker said: “There are people within our Casey South area that are going through homelessness and are in real crisis.”
“Homelessness is not a CBD issue. Homelessness is something that reaches everybody; every demographic.”
He also praised the staff and volunteers at CISS for their “truly astonishing” work.
After swimming around the pier, Mr Walliker’s wife was on hand to quickly drape him in towels.
“I’m really grateful for the experience so hopefully some good can come of this,” he said.
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