The coaching team at our tennis club have come together to play an exhibition tennis match. It's a small way to raise donations to help the Red Cross Australia and all the brave firefighters for all their work tackling the bushfires that have devastated huge areas of Australia.

The bushfires began back in September 2019 and are estimated to last for another two months, at least. 

• Over 6,000 firefighters are battling 80mph winds in some parts to tackle the fires. 
• Thousands of volunteer firefighters are also battling to put off the bush fires. 
• Firefighters have been killed or injured. 
• 73 new fires started in the State of Victoria in one weekend alone. 
• Nearly 1 billion animals have been killed, leading to several species being at risk of becoming extinct. 
• Over 30% of the koala habitat has been destroyed. 
• People have been killed or are still missing. 
• Over 7 million hectares of land has already been burnt. 
• Thousands of homes have been destroyed. 
• Mass evacuations are in place, with many people taking refuge on local beaches. 
• Visibility in Melbourne is now less than 1km. 
• Communities are choking under the orange skies caused by the fires, with smoke stretching as far as New Zealand. 
• Parts of Australia currently has the worst air quality in the world. 
• Smoke from the fires are also causing lighting storms which are putting more areas at risk for fires. 
• Food, water and fuel stocks are now running critically low as the crisis continues. 
• Rain is expected to arrive at some point, but this bring other risk factors. Due to the fire and recent droughts which has resulted in soil being bare of vegetation, flash floods are a real risk, which puts everyone at risk. 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.