Charity Ball returns to calendar

In Home Hospice Care Mount Gambier is set to receive an essential financial injection courtesy of a return to the calendar of the Key 2 Kindness Charity Ball on March 2 this year.

The ball, which was first held in March 2022, and netted more than $30,000 for palliative care services in the region, is the brainchild of Mount Gambier real estate leader Gail Richards and the cause is deeply personal for the Key 2 Sale principal.

Determined to give back to a community she calls home, Gail set up the Key 2 Kindness Foundation as an offshoot of her successful real estate business – Key 2 Sale.

COVID might have seen the inaugural ball shelved twice but with funds raised leading into and courtesy of the charity ball being earmarked for palliative care, Gail’s personal experience to the needs in this sector ensured it would always go ahead.

“A few years ago my Gran Fay succumbed to bowel cancer – it was an agonising five months from getting a diagnosis, to her operation and then watching her steady decline,” Gail said.

COVID made visitation complicated, adding anguish to an already distressing situation. Gail’s gran was in lockdown for six weeks in Boneham Cottage and when she was admitted to hospital for her final three weeks, COVID had taken hold.

“Our family was not alone, with many families having not only the looming loss of their loved one to deal with but the added emotional burden of not being able to spend as much time as possible with them,” Gail said. “It was ironic really, knowing our days with Gran in our life were limited but then to not be able to spend them with her was heartbreaking. Children could not go into aged care facilities or hospitals and from the time Gran entered respite my kids did not get to see their Gran in person again other than a few waves at the window whilst talking to her on the phone.”

Navigating that situation was made even more complicated with Gail’s grandfather Col in a separate aged care facility, meaning the couple were also isolated from each other.

“They did however sneak one visit in for them which was lovely,” Gail said. “In my mind I understood why we needed restrictions to enable protection to all patients and staff. However, in my heart, I still don’t understand, and I don’t think I ever will – how can we separate families who won’t be able to get that time back again. It went against every grain of my human instincts to not be there to reassure and support her in her time of need. To distract her with conversation, help her with pain or simply sit and be there.”

And while Gail still wrestles with that difficult time, her Gran never complained.

“She always spoke so highly of the hospital and aged care staff,” Gail said. “She had the utmost gratitude for all the nursing team and the effort they made to make her days, just that little more comfortable. I can honestly say that in those last three weeks she was incredibly well cared for with compassion, dignity and kindness by the doctors and nursing staff at our hospital. They really are remarkable at what they do.”

Months after Gail’s Gran passed away, she started to contemplate ways to give back to the hospital and staff that took such great care of her Gran and that is how Gail forged her now strong bond with local palliative care advocate Maureen Klintberg.

“A couple of coffees later and Maureen’s passion and enthusiasm for better palliative care services enabled us to join forces and work towards fundraising and raising awareness,” Gail said. “Maureen is quite the visionary and has visited many hospitals and hospices, researched facilities and equipment and has an amazing foresight for palliative care services and a vision for a standalone hospice for Mount Gambier. Not to mention getting the In Home Hospice Care Service up and running in our area. Something that would have been valued by our family if that service was available back then.”

The duo is now working together with a group is equally passionate advocates on setting up a stand-alone, purpose-built facility in Mount Gambier.

“It is definitely the long term goal for Mount Gambier to have a stand-alone facility but what we don’t want is to go backwards with the services we already have,” Gail said. “We need to keep pushing forward to provide better services and what we can do right now is make sure the In Home Hospice Care service can continue.”

In Home Hospice Care is a Mount Gambier based volunteer-driven service dedicated to providing free, in-home support for individuals dealing with life-limiting illnesses.

In Home Hospice Car Mount Gambier manager Sandi Elliot said the service was founded with a mission to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families, and currently the organisation relies on community support to continue its vital work.

“We have already cared for over 32 families within Mount Gambier and surrounding districts, and local fundraisers, such as the Key 2 Sale Charity Ball play a pivotal role in sustaining In Home Hospice Care’s operations and help to ensure the continued availability of the service,” Sandi said.

“Staff and volunteers of In Home Hospice Care are very excited about the upcoming fundraiser, acknowledging the valued support from Key 2 Sale and encourage everyone to join hands in supporting the Key 2 Sale Charity Ball.

“Financial contributions from such events are instrumental in expanding the availability of our free, volunteer-driven in-home service and funds raise remain in our community and support local people in need.

The 2024 event will follow a similar format to the 2022 ball with an auction part of the fundraising push and anyone wanting to donate items for the auction can contact Key 2 Sale at [email protected]

There will also be a guest speaker with Diane Wright OAM, a palliative care trailblazer, set to share her knowledge of the sector at the March 2 event.

Diane has had a positive impact on the quality of life of hundreds of Australians and has been a trailblazer in paving the way for innovation in Victorian Regional palliative care, serving as president of Anam Cara Colac from 2011 to March 2023 and has now stepped into the role of President Emeritus.

Diane received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 in recognition of her community work. Other awards include a Paul Harris fellowship from Rotary, an outstanding women’s achievement award from Zonta International, a place on the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll and life membership of Palliative Care Victoria.

Palliative care holds a special place in Diane’s heart and her journey with palliative care spans 25 years, and in this time she has made a significant contribution to the community in founding Anam Cara House Geelong and Anam Cara House Colac, to serve the communities of both Geelong and Colac across South West Victoria.

The Colac and regional community worked together to establish Anam Cara Colac in 2011 raising more than $3.2 million and providing more than 12,000 hours of pro bono labour. Now in its 12th year of operation, Anam Cara Colac is a highly successful hospice palliative care service.

In October 2023, the New Anam Cara House Geelong was officially opened on the Deakin Campus at Waurn Ponds – the extension of Diane’s vision of a hospice for the Geelong community, which was first established in 2007.

Tickets are available through this link: https://events.humanitix.com/key-2-kindness-charity-ball-2024

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRISTY RADFORD (WITH LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY)