Blokes prepare for a big lunch in Bendigo

THE annual Bendigo’s Biggest Ever Blokes Lunch later this month is shaping as the best yet, according to event chair Neil Macdonald.

Mr Macdonald said as many as 500 people were expected at the lunch, which is scheduled for Friday 15 November from noon to 4.30pm at the All Seasons Resort Hotel in Strathdale.

“We normally get around 400, so this could be the biggest one we’ve ever had – the biggest one in numbers,” he said.

The Bendigo lunch has been held annually since November 2010, apart from 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a fundraiser for prostate cancer research and support.

It was the second ever of its kind, preceded a month earlier by the inaugural event in Shepparton, organised by McPherson Media Group owner Chris McPherson, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 and who died in 2015.

Former Western Bulldogs premiership player Tom Boyd will be the featured speaker during the afternoon, which will be compered by comedian, actor and television and radio personality Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann.

Mr Macdonald said Boyd is a big advocate for men’s mental health.

“He’s been through that journey of men’s mental health; that’s why he stopped playing football,” he said.

“He speaks quite often on mental health.

“While it [the lunch] primarily raises funds for prostate cancer awareness and research, we believe that men’s [mental] health is just as important.”

Lunches are now held in as many as a dozen places throughout Victoria and interstate, and Mr Macdonald said the campaign is gaining momentum.

Most of the money raised from this year’s lunch will contribute to efforts to have a prostate cancer support nurse employed in the city, as well as making a contribution to the St John of God Hospital’s fundraising drive to buy a surgical robot.

“Bendigo doesn’t have a prostate cancer support nurse, which is a shame,” Mr Macdonald said.

“Yet we have three breast cancer nurses.

“Shepparton has a prostate cancer support nurse, Mildura has, Geelong has, lots of country areas have support nurses but Bendigo doesn’t.”

Mr Macdonald said the local lunch also supports the Bendigo cancer wellness centre. It raised about $175,000 last year.

Tickets are available up until a week before the event at eventbookings.com.