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It’s amazing how the paddling season only just seemed to come to an end and the Pink Dragons (Pinkies) are now well and truly thinking about the next one! The coming season will be the 10th Anniversary for our team and we will mark the occasion in 2016 with an end of season party, but first there is a lot of work to be done getting our fitness back on track.
Some of the team have continued paddling throughout the winter with weekly sessions on Sunday mornings and monthly winter regattas to keep their fitness up. Our 2016/17 season will commence with our usual twice weekly trainings at Westhaven Marina in Auckland and, as always, we are looking to recruit new team members.
Over the past 18 months Lou James of the Pinc and Steel Cancer Rehabilitation Trust has been involved in a very rewarding and exciting project developing a stand-up-paddle boarding rehabilitation programme for women after breast cancer treatment - PaddleOn. Fifty-eight women completed the pilot programme last summer and Dr Judith Ansell has written a comprehensive evaluation. A summary of the report is outlined below but to view a full copy go to this link http://www.pincandsteel.com/programs/our-programs/paddleon/stand-up-paddle-research/
Fashion for a Cure - Hamilton
Fashion for a Cure is one of the many ways that Breast Cancer Cure fund research into a cure. The event has been delivered successfully in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch since 2012.
Over the course of the evening guests enjoy cocktail function including wine and canapés, fashion show plus a live auction. The event is hosted by one of their celebrity Ambassadors.
The proceeds from the night go directly towards finding a cure for breast cancer.
Book tickets to their exclusive fashion show and join the fight for a cure.
When: Wednesday 29th July, 6-8 pm
Where: The Atrium, Wintec House, Nisbet Street, Hamilton
Ruta Alo was a kind, quiet and humble person. She believed in tradition and ensured her family knew and upheld cultural practice and values - Fa’a Samoa – the “Samoan way”.
It was these cultural values and her belief in God that would help Ruta through dark times with an 11-year battle with cancer. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Ruta chose to have a partial mastectomy and radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The cancer returned some three years later, she had treatment and continued to live her life.
Sadly in 2014, her cancer returned for a third time and Ruta Alo passed away at home on the 8th June 2014 surrounded by family and loved ones.
Click here for the May 2015 newsletter from the Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust.
18 May 2015
Auckland and Napier waterways will be filled with a new generation of stand pp paddlers this week as the pilot program of Paddle On comes to an end. The eight week program involved teaching stand-up paddling (SUP) to breast cancer survivors and was designed specifically for cancer rehabilitation.
The Australasian Lymphology Association has a grant from IBM to create a patient registry in New Zealand and Australia of those who have lymphoedema. This is a wonderful opportunity to gather information about the extent of the problem, what is offered for treatment and how it affects people’s lives. With this information they can better understand the cost of poorly managed lymphoedema with a goal of having better preventative strategies. They will be in a strong position to lobby government for more equitable services throughout New Zealand with this information.
On a glorious summer’s evening during March, a group of mums, dads, grandparents and children gathered on an Auckland beach to launch ‘Memories to Heaven’, an awareness initiative from Kenzie's Gift highlighting that children grieve when they have experienced the death of someone they love.
Please visit the Kenzie's Gift site to read more and see the Memories to Heaven video - http://www.kenziesgift.com/memories-to-heaven
Kenzie's Gift was the grateful recipient of a donation from this year's Round the Bays event held on 8 March in Auckland.
Eight charities shared in the $100,000 donation. Kenzie's Gift CEO Nic Russell (second from left) is seen here at the presentation receiving a cheque for $9,000 from Round the Bays organisers. "It's a wonderful donation for which we are so grateful," said Nic. "These funds will go a long way towards helping us to provide our services to children and families."
28 April 2015
The Tauranga-based Boobops dragon boat team (see photo at right) has recently finished another successful dragon boating season, which included competing in the World Dragon Boat Breast Cancer champs in Sarosota, Florida in October 2014.
They have just competed at the New Zealand Nationals at Lake Pupuke, where, after some incredibly hard fought races, they won gold in the 200 metres and silver in the 500 and 2000 metre races. After a long period of rebuilding their team, their dragon boat sisters from Christchurch took out the golds and it is fantastic to see them back in the breast cancer survivors division!
8 April 2015
