Vital funds and opportunities

AFTER watching her son-in-law go through cancer treatment in his 20s, Barbara Speldewinde decided she would do whatever she could to raise money to find a cure and make life easier for patients.

Starting Geelong’s Fight Cancer Foundation op shop was her first step, raising significant funds for the cancer charity, while also providing an unexpected opportunity for the young volunteers who worked there.

Barbara is one of six Geelong Westfield Local Hero finalists for 2021, and is in the running to win $10,000 for her charity which provides accommodation for regional cancer patients requiring treatment in Melbourne.

Barbara said her son-in-law was diagnosed in 1997, around the same time that five others living in the Grovedale area, aged 18 to 26, were also diagnosed with similar cancers.

“Of those six young people, only my son-in-law and one other are still alive. I saw the devastation; young people who never had a life … I decided as long as I could, I would help to find a cure,” she said.

Starting with the op shop, she then launched an annual luncheon at the Geelong Football Club, with the support of the late “very giving” Frank Costa, and coordinated Footy Colours Day across all the local schools and kinders from Melbourne to Warrnambool.

However while raising money for the Fight Cancer Foundation was her priority, a shortage of volunteers to help staff led her to helping people of all ages, particularly women, gain experience, skills and confidence to find paid work.

“They came as volunteers and then I got them into jobs,” Barbara said.

“Most people want a job, they just need to develop confidence; we would teach them counter and money skills, rewrite their resumes, give them clothes and send them off for an interview, encourage them to do a course as a teacher’s aid or in aged care.

“Then they’d come back and tell me how well they were going.

“It was a huge reward for me and it made a difference in their life.”

Vote for Local Hero Barbara and support the Fight Cancer Foundation by visiting the Westfield Geelong website.