Page 1088 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2012
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diagnosis. It turns lives upside down overnight. Families from rural or regional Australia, and of course that includes the ACT, often need to quickly relocate to major cities to be closer to treatment centres. This is usually for extended periods of time. Relocation is particularly traumatic as it often occurs after diagnosis, resulting in patients and families adjusting to their new circumstances without the benefit of established local support networks.
This is where the Leukaemia Foundation steps in, providing personalised support and care for patients and families right through their journey, from diagnosis and treatment to recovery. This support is provided by an extensive team of trained cancer nurses and allied health professionals and reaches every town and community across Australia. All services are provided free of charge to patients and families.
The Leukaemia Foundation is also committed to ongoing funding for vital research into the causes, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment, psychosocial impact and ultimately cures for leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.
The first event I would like to talk about was last Friday, 16 March where I participated in the Leukaemia Foundation shave for a cure, which may explain my haircut; it was provided most generously by Peter Barclay from King O’Malley’s, who when I asked for a number 3, was good enough to give me a number 1, and he pretty much shaved the lot off. I can only say that he is a far better publican than he is a barber.
I would like to say well done to all those who participated in the shave for a cure and again well done to Peter Barclay, who does so much for so many causes. I know that he has hosted the Prostate Cancer Support Group barbecue, which was hosted by me last year and the Chief Minister the year before, and many other worthy causes.
On 6 March I attended at the Canberra Business Events Centre the launch by the Chief Minister of the Lifecycle event of the Leukaemia Foundation. It was also attended by Mr Doszpot and Mr Smyth and a number of other MLAs were present. The media release states:
Lifecycle is a combined awareness and fundraising initiative. It aims to increase community awareness of Leukaemia and other blood disorders, as well as raise capital toward a much needed purpose built facility in Canberra for ACT and surrounding regional New South Wales patients. The new facility will provide live-in accommodation for patients and their families, and will provide working accommodation for Leukaemia Foundation staff …
The awareness campaign will include presentations to local schools here in the ACT, as well as presentations to regional towns that will utilise the new facility when it is built. The centrepiece of Lifecycle’s fund raising component is a 48-hour cycling event around Lake Burley Griffin. There will be an active ‘event window’ from 6:00 pm on Thursday 13 September 2012 to 6:00 pm on Saturday 15 September 2012, within which individual riders or teams can choose when they would like to ride.
It is a fantastic event. A lot of people are associated with it, but I would like to acknowledge particularly a couple of the sponsors. Point Project Management are
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