Thirty bosses across Canberra have voluntarily placed themselves behind bars since April - all for a good cause, of course.
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This year's Lock Up Your Boss fundraiser has raised $74,000 for Lifeline Canberra's crisis support and suicide prevention line. This is more than double last year's tally of $29,000 and easily Lifeline's most successful fundraiser to date.
Since April, businesses across the region have been locking up their bosses and throwing away the keys. The only way out is for their fearless leader to raise enough money for bail.
But it's not as bad as it sounds. This is the first year Lock Up Your Boss has taken place exclusively online in a 'virtual' prison. Bosses and their businesses have been campaigning for the cause largely on social media during the fundraising period.
For the well-known Director of Luton Property Group, Richard Luton, it took $7000 to earn his get-out-of-jail free card.
Mr Luton said there was a final push in the last 24 hours of his campaign where the nine Luton offices frantically put the word out on social media. He said a generous friend had personally donated $1500.
"I've lost friends through mental health issues and I just want to help stop suicide," Mr Luton said.
"There isn't much support government-wise, and if we can [offer support] as private-enterprise companies through our means, it's good."
CEO of Random Computing Services Jed Johnson and his 18 staff members raised just under $5000. Mr Johnson's fundraising efforts coincided with a trip to Darwin but that did not stop him from participating.
Mr Johnson spread the word through social media, taking photos in his 'Lock Up Your Boss' shirt in front of jails and courthouses in the Kimberley.
"Well obviously I had fun running around the country escaping the staff," Mr Johnson laughed.
He added that, as part of his travels, he visited mental health facilities in Broome.
"It was good for me to see another part of Australia and how suicide prevention is really important up there," Mr Johnson said.
Manager at WOTSO WorkSpace Canberra, Millie Whittaker raised $400.
"Especially in a workplace where people wouldn't want to talk about [suicide] openly, something like Lock Up Your Boss is fun and you can interact with people which can make the situation less serious than it needs to be," Ms Whittaker said.
CEO of Lifeline Canberra Carrie Leeson said only four per cent of the organisation's funding came from government, with the other 96 per cent largely dependent on the generosity of donors at fundraising events.
Ms Leeson called this year's fundraising efforts "an unprecedented and outstanding result". She attributed the record high to the convenience of the virtual prison "because it boycotts the bureaucratic labour involved in organising process with events".
Suicide is the leading cause of preventable death in Australia. Last year, Canberra lost 46 individuals to suicide.
If this article has raised any issues for you, please contact Lifeline on 131 114; Mensline on 1300 789 978; or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
