news, health, can give day, canberra hospital foundation

Our health workers have done us proud during a very difficult 2020, and on Thursday they will continue to give back during the inaugural Can Give Day celebrations, aiming to raise money for the Canberra Hospital Foundation. Can Give Day will be a 24-hour “festival of giving”, in the style of telethons of days gone by. The community is being asked to pitch in to help reach a $200,000 donations goal. The foundation helps all patients, from premature babies to those nearing the end of life, either in hospital or receiving treatment. Can Give Day ambassador Leo Sayer is performing at the National Museum, and the concert and fundraising fun will be livestreamed. Register at cangiveday.org.au to watch the concert, see how the day unfolds and donate to the cause. Canberra Hospital Foundation chief executive officer Helen Falla said the response so far had been “incredible”, with more than $80,000 already raised towards the $200,000 goal. Staff across the sector, including at the hospitals, community health centres and walk-in centres, have already been fundraising. Dr Nick Coatsworth, Canberra Health Services’ executive director of medical services, has promised to don a Leo Sayer wig and break into song at any point during the day on the promise of a donation. Cathie O’Neill, a director from the Canberra Region Cancer Centre, is shaving her hair, having raised more than $15,000. A Bedpan Olympics will be held, with events including a contest to see who can make a hospital bed fastest (don’t forget the hospital corners). There will also be cake and plant stalls, bake-offs, raffles and much more. All the teams are raising money for a project important to their area. The staff at BreastScreen have organised a bra decorating competition. BreastScreen’s Christy Fox said people could decorate a bra on Thursday at the health centre at 1 Moore Street. The money raised by BreastScreen for Can Give Day will go back into an Aboriginal shawl project to make Indigenous women more comfortable getting a mammogram. The staff have all been fully involved in Can Give Day. “It’s good to get everyone behind the Canberra Hospital and some of the lesser-known services,” Ms Fox said. “This building has something like eight to 10 health services in it so it’s brought us together. It’s been fun and a good laugh.” Liz Pedley looks after nurses who work in schools. Recent donations from the foundation have included children’s hearing equipment. Her team is planning to cover the carpet in gold coins at the Moore Street health centre for Can Give Day. “We’ve been recipients of Canberra Hospital Foundation funding in the past, and seen the benefits of that,so actually want to give a little bit back to the foundation to say thank you,” Mrs Pedley said. “We’re grateful for the really practical stuff that they do that makes our clients’ experience more enjoyable. So, on Thursday, we’re hoping to pave the carpet gold with gold coins.” READ MORE: Mrs Pedley said health workers wanted to help out and fundraise for the Canberra Hospital Foundation even after a draining year that saw the Black Summer bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re adaptable but we also want the best for our clients, when it’s been a hard year for them,” she said. “We’ve had staff redeployed and staff anxious about their own welfare and their own families, and staff who are working in the screening areas rather than on our own core business, yet everyone is still so positive and wants to contribute.” Other health staff will be racing exercise bikes or rowing machines for 24 hours to raise money. Another team is running up the 10-storey tower of the Canberra Hospital 100 times. “They’ve all been so excited and so responsive,” Ms Falla said. “I think after such a challenging year, it’s a nice bit of fun to end the year.” All the money raised will be used by the foundation for patient care. “I think everyone in the community is touched at some stage, either being in hospital or to receive some treatment. If it’s not themselves, it’s a loved one or a friend,” Ms Falla said. “So get behind Can Give Day and support our most vulnerable patients on a day of giving. And thank you.”

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