Club fun for a good cause

For the cause: Heathcote’s A Grade netballers played in purple as part of the club’s combined ladies and memorial day event. Photo: STEVE WOMERSLEY

THE recent Heathcote Football Netball Club ladies’ day event gave local women a chance to get together and have fun, while raising money for charity.

HFNC secretary Belinda Dennis said the event had been a great success.

“It’s the first time we’ve done this at Heathcote, at least in the time I know of,” she said. “We were aiming to get 30 people and we had about 80, so that’s really awesome.

“We really wanted the community to get involved and there were lots of people who were not club regulars. That’s exactly what we were after.

“We wanted them to bring their family and their friends and whoever else, so it was really nice to see that happening.”

The day was also an opportunity for club members and supporters to enjoy themselves.

“We have a really great club culture,” Ms Dennis said. “It’s really nice for people to be able see that and for us to mingle with others too.

“There are so many of the girlfriends and the parents who come and support us every week and this was also for them, they deserve it.

“It’s been good for the boys to buy their girlfriends tickets too.”

A total of $1782 was raised for Pancare to support those affected by upper gastro-intestinal cancers.

Heathcote resident Rhonda Linnell has been fundraising and promoting awareness around pancreatic cancer for several years and she welcomed HFNC’s support.

“Pancare is a foundation that I’m very passionate about because pancreatic cancer has touched me personally, not just with family but I lost a friend earlier this year too,” she said.

“It’s one of the cancers that has the lowest survival rate for five years and under.

“It’s very difficult to diagnose because by the time they figure out what it is, it’s often stage three or four and it’s also often spread to somewhere else.

“It’s a cancer that’s still very deadly. Other cancers like bowel cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer have screening programs and that’s made a huge difference to the survival rate for them.

“But there is no simple test for pancreatic cancer.”

Pancare provides support for those with upper GI cancers and is currently involved in screening programs for families affected by pancreatic cancer.