Community support needed for Anam Cara House Geelong

AS CONSTRUCTION of Anam Cara House Geelong’s new 20-bed palliative community care facility in Waurn Ponds nears completion, high profile names are appealing for support in getting the doors open by September.

Touring the site on the grounds of Deakin University earlier this month, Geelong star and Anam Cara House ambassador Tom Hawkins remarked on the importance of such facilities in the region.

“There is a very real need for people in Geelong with life-limiting illness to be able to make a choice. Although we cannot change the outcome, we can positively impact the journey,” Hawkins said.

The facility will be fully integrated with the University’s School of Medicine and Faculty of Health, allowing Deakin direct access to education, bedside learning and research opportunities.

“As a former cancer surgeon, I am intimately aware of how important these facilities are for patients and their families,” Deakin University vice-chancellor Professor Iain Martin said during the tour.

“They help to ensure we can provide the best possible care and support during what is inevitably a very challenging time.”

Due to demand now and in the future in the growing region, Anam Cara House Geelong has outgrown its existing four-bedroom facility, and Hawkins is helping lead the campaign to complete its new purpose-built home.

“We need the help of the Geelong Community to get there,” he said of the not-for-profit’s latest Million Dollar Challenge, where every community donation will be tripled by corporate and philanthropic supporters, taking place for 12 hours only between 8am-8pm on March 31.

For more information about Anam Cara House Geelong’s ‘Million Dollar Challenge” visit: https://achg.org.au/givingday