Riding 700km for children with cancer

Think you could ride a bike 700km from Newcastle, NSW to Gold Coast, QLD? This is exactly what two incredible 15-year-old girls have done to raise funds for childhood cancer research. Over seven days, Phoenix Julian and Hayley Dell completed this long-distance journey, raising a total of $1500 for our Foundation.

Phoenix and Hayley compete in road and track cycling at the Hunter Academy of Sport (HAS), a sport academy assisting talented junior athletes from regional areas of NSW.

Having family and friends who have battled with, and some who have lost their battles with, cancer was the driving force behind the girls’ decision to support our Foundation. “Hayley and I felt deeply about supporting those affected by cancer, in particular children affected by it,” Phoenix shared. “We can’t imagine what it’s like for them and their families to go through.”

The girls were barely even phased by the challenge that would be gruelling for most. “It was much easier than we thought,” said Phoenix. “It rained for three days and was sunny for four, which made it an incredible seven-day journey averaging 100km a day.”

When asked if they would consider doing something like this again, Phoenix did not hesitate to respond favourably. “It was an unbelievable experience to be able to do it with my best friend and I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” she expressed. “But next time I think we’ll look for a bigger challenge!”

We commend Phoenix and Hayley on their incredible achievement. Not only have they helped us in our commitment to see more children live the lives they deserve, but they have set a great example for other young people out there who want to help make a difference in the community.

“We both only thought we would raise $500,” admitted Phoenix. “But we had so much support from our local community and even managed to raise enough to cover the expenses of the trip!”

As with any feat of this magnitude, there are people that need to be thanked. “Thank you to Hayley’s dad Jeremy for being our chaperone,” said Phoenix. “We’d also like to thank all our families for their love and support on our incredible journey. A special thanks to our coach Ross Hayter who never doubted for a second that we couldn’t do this and saw it as a good opportunity for training!”

Finally, Phoenix and Hayley thank “all that donated and encouraged us on our journey.” It’s not enough to execute an incredible fundraising challenge like this, but you also need the support of the community to help make a real difference. We are so thankful for Phoenix and Hayley for choosing to support childhood cancer research and we appreciate the community for rightfully getting behind these amazing young ladies.

A winning donation from hard-working students

Written by Mrs Vasu from Carey Baptist College Forrestdale

As part of the Pastoral Care program in Secondary at Carey Baptist College Forrestdale, the school launched a new initiative called Social Clubs. This new program allowed students to choose a Social Club to participate in, once a week, for four weeks in Term 3.

Students got to choose from basketball to candle making, to a community kitchen and French food club, horticulture, Minecraft, strategy games and a science club.

Mrs Vasu ran a Money Challenge club. Each student was given $10 and needed to multiply their money. Some chose to work on their own, in pairs, or small groups of 3. Whatever money each group made was donated to their chosen charity and the person/group that made the most money won a prize.

Over the last four weeks, the winning group worked extremely hard to fundraise for the Child Cancer Research Foundation. Jamie Leejo-George (Year 8), Jayden Hockey (Year 7) and Aimee Gordon (Year 10) had a number of different ideas. They started with a stall selling jelly and icy-poles. They then used the profits from that stall to purchase sponges, soap and polish for a car wash.

They made an excel booking sheet and wrote up contracts to give to the staff at school. They gave up their lunch times and committed to staying back after school to wash as many cars as possible. They also gave up their time to sorting and cleaning bookshelves and the fish tank in the Science room for a fee.

We have some very clever entrepreneurs at Carey Baptist College Forrestdale. This group turned their original $30 into $441.15. Their determination and commitment during this challenge was commendable and inspiring. The group chose this foundation because of friends and family members affected by cancer and wanting to do it in support of them.

The Butcher, Baker, Great Coffee Maker’s $800 donation!

We recently had a very special visit to our office from Emma Williams from The Butcher, Baker, Great Coffee Maker and her son Harrison. The pair came in to present us with a cheque for $800 which they raised from a CCRF donation tin on their shop counter.

The Butcher, Baker, Great Coffee Maker is a friendly butcher shop located in Greenfields which also offers a range of amazing hot foods, cold rolls, sandwiches and barista made Gesha coffee. The store is run by Emma and her husband Andrew who have supported our Foundation since 2017.

Childhood cancer research is a cause close to Emma and Andrew’s heart, with their son Harrison a childhood cancer survivor himself. Harrison was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in February 2015 and went through a year of intense treatments and surgeries.

The family came close to financial ruin during the battle to save Harrison’s life, losing their business and life savings. Now, Harrison is cancer-free and the family have rebuilt their lives and their business.

We are thrilled to see this family now flourishing and we are so grateful for their continued support of our Foundation. Thank you to every single person who has visited The Butcher, Baker, Great Coffee Maker and contributed to their donation tin. We have now given them a new tin so if you’re in the area, we recommend popping by to meet the amazing family and show your support for the cause.

If you have a business and would like to help make a difference for children with cancer, get in contact with us today about hosting one of our donation tins! We also offer a way to accept electronic donations through a Quest Donation Point Tap. Simply give us a call on (08) 9363 7400 or send an email to [email protected] for more information.

Thornlie Bowling Club donates over $1,000!

Thornlie Bowling Club is an amazing community partner who has been supporting us for a number of years now. In July this year, the Club donated $1,114 to our Foundation, bringing their lifetime donation total to over $17,000!

“We held a mixed competition on a Sunday, where teams played two games of bowls in the afternoon,” explained Wayne Wendt, Thornlie Bowling Club Match Committee Chair. “All entry fees and fees for use of the greens were donated to the Foundation.”

During these games, the Club also held raffle boards, with all profits being added to the total funds raised during the day. The Club also donated fines for indiscretions noticed during these games and games played the previous 12 months. These included fines for wrong bias, no names on a score card, not wearing the correct uniform, and anything else the Fines Master decided!

We can’t thank the Thornlie Bowling Club enough for their ongoing support. We also thank all of the bowlers who helped the club reach this amazing total this year.

Beyond Bank rewards CCRF

Did you know that you can support childhood cancer research just by having a savings account? Thanks to some of our amazing supporters, our Foundation has received a donation of $1,613.61 from Beyond Bank as part of their Community Reward Program.

The Beyond Bank Community Rewards account allows you to save your money and, in return, CCRF receives a Community Reward Payment based on the combined average annual balances of all supporter’s savings. Basically, the more you save, the more Beyond Bank will donate towards our Foundation!

There are many great benefits that come with a Beyond Bank Community Rewards Account. There are no costs or monthly account-keeping fees, you’ll earn interest on your savings, and you can conveniently access your account on your phone.

Through this program, Beyond Bank is donating over $630,000 to hundreds of grassroots clubs and charities across Australia this year. We thank everyone who is already supporting our cause through this unique and valuable initiative.

Start saving and let Beyond Bank do the giving! Open a Community Reward Account today.