Page 5228 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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Adjournment
Motion (by Ms Gallagher) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Bosom Buddies—Annual Breast Cancer Day dinner
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (6.41): I would like to talk about an event that I attended on Monday evening at the Southern Cross Club, the Bosom Buddies Annual Breast Cancer Day dinner. Also in attendance were Senator Kate Lundy and the former member for Canberra, Annette Ellis.
Bosom Buddies is an ACT-based volunteer organisation that actively supports individuals living with breast cancer and assists their families, friends and other supporters. Their aims include supporting those newly diagnosed with breast cancer to assist them on their journey by using a buddy system; providing social activities for fun and for ongoing sharing and support for members and their guests; staying in touch through a quarterly newsletter to members; raising awareness in the community about breast cancers through presentations and through community events initiated by Bosom Buddies; advocating to improve treatment in our region and to provide a voice in the community for issues related to breast cancer—and it is important to note that Bosom Buddies is a local charity; it is very much a local organisation rather than a national one—and raising funds for community programs and projects. They do things like a hospital visiting program at Calvary hospital.
It was a great night and I met a fantastic group of men and women who are helping others on their breast cancer journey. Obviously, some of those women are still on that journey. It was great to meet ladies like Kerry Stewart, who runs the “Look good, feel better” program. That is a program that helps women who have had chemotherapy and have lost their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes to basically reclaim their face—to learn how to apply make-up to get their face back. I had not considered this as an issue before, but if you lose your eyebrows and eyelashes, you lose a lot of the aspects of your face that make you distinctive. It is a difficult thing for a woman to then go out in public and feel proud about herself. What a great program this is to help women going through such a difficult time.
I also had the privilege of meeting Sue Owen, who runs “Heads up” at Calvary. She helps women, and some men, who have lost their hair to find a hat, a turban or other headwear to wear. She helps them with selecting and fitting the right headwear. That again is about helping particular women on a very difficult journey to feel good about themselves. She related to me many stories about women who had initially come in saying, “I don’t wear hats; I’m not going to do that,” and who had then left with a hat on and feeling great about themselves.
Bosom Buddies also have a gift card that you can give to someone as a present. It is a donation to Bosom Buddies. It is a great gift idea, particularly if you are looking at giving something to someone—perhaps a family member or a friend who suffered
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