Father’s Day is approaching and the annual Walk the Loop is set to get bigger and brighter than ever.
The event is organised by the Coonamble Cancer Support Group, which was started in 2006 by local nurses and community activists Maureen Nairne and Rae Murray.
As part of this community, and in their work through Coonamble Hospital, they saw the difficulties faced by those diagnosed with cancer, and their families and friends, as they dealt with the disease and the expensive treatments, with the costs exacerbated by the distance from specialists and specialised treatment facilities.
Seeing a need, Rae and Maureen decided to do something about it.
They set up a fund and, with the help of their friends, families and workmates, began raising money to make sure that local cancer sufferers and their families had financial support for essential items such as transport, accommodation or other practical assistance.
Any local person who is diagnosed with cancer is offered a one-off gift of $1500 to help them in their struggle. Not everyone accepts the offer but over the years many, many people have.
As an example, in one year the Group distributed over $45,000 to help more than 35 local people.
The Cancer Support Group ran under the umbrella of Coonamble Quota Club for a time and became independently incorporated in 2013.
In typical Coonamble form, a good idea gains traction and from a handful of women, the group grew to have ten or twelve active members and an army of dedicated supporters, from the service clubs to local businesses and ordinary residents.
Still, if you want something done, you get a couple of the busiest people you can find and let them run.
Rae and Maureen and their team tried many and varied ways to raise the funds they needed to keep pace.
In 2009 they held a community walk that they called Walk the Loop.
It has now become a fixture on the annual calendar and a time when the community comes together in a visible, tangible way to support their fellow residents with cancer and to enjoy the spirit of the day.
In 2012, a generous gesture from a former Coonamble resident, Brian Fletcher, resulted in four consecutive Back to Coonamble Race meetings held at the Hawkesbury Race Club on the June long weekend.
These ‘reunion’ race meetings vastly expanded the fundraising capacity of the local Cancer Support Group by harnessing the goodwill of large numbers of past and present residents.
In a cruel lesson on the harsh realities of life, both Maureen and Rae were eventually themselves diagnosed with cancer, embarking on the struggle that they’d worked so hard to support others through.
Maureen passed away in 2014 and Rae in 2016.
It is a tribute to those women and the others who have worked alongside them over the years that the Coonamble Cancer Support Group remains as strong as ever.
The current President is Janis Nichol, with Treasurer Anne McKay and Secretary Anita Murray, and backed by some of our community’s most persistent and persuasive volunteers.
Most, if not all of the Committee, are already active volunteers for at least one other organisation.
These are the people who make our town tick and who are there to help when you are most in need.
Get your walking shoes ready for Fathers’ Day.
