Newsletter Spring 2023

 Autumn 2023 Newsletter 

Brisbane Business

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President’s Report

Presidents report

This year we reached 30 years as an Association, and we have had a book of the history printed to celebrate. We have many copies and look forward to distributing them over the coming months. We hope you will enjoy the history and reading the stories of the many people we have helped, and of the many volunteers and donors that have helped us. 

In July we had a very successful & popular Fund-Raising Cocktail Party at Tattersalls’ Club in Brisbane, which was organized by Board Member Dinie McConnel, with the strong support of Emma Crosby and Lizzie Chandler. I want to thank and congratulate them most sincerely as we raised $44,276 in the evening. Part of the funds will be used to fund breast cancer research through QUT. The funds will also help with the financial assistance packages and funding for rural nurses to upgrade skills, plus we hope to deliver the important rural seminars once again.

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Just one click will provide further education for a rural or regional nurse to better support patients

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The Breast and Prostate Cancer Association of Queensland is a volunteer managed charity organisation dedicated to improving breast and prostate cancer services to people living in rural and regional Queensland by providing grants for the education and placement of nurses, research grants, rural seminars and produce a Resource Directory of services and support available throughout Queensland. We also provide financial assistance grants for rural and regional patients for expenses relating to the treatment and travel costs.

 

We are incredibly grateful to the Weengallon Ladies Day Committee for supporting the Goondiwindi Nurse Project! This incredible community group have raised and donated a substantial amount of funds to enable us to establish this service in partnership with the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service and the Goondiwindi Hospital. Registered Nurse Justine Gaynor has been appointed to support breast and prostate cancer patients in this district! Plus Weengallon Ladies Day also provided further donations to help us support patients through our patient assistance grants in St George and Goondiwindi! Thank you ladies! You are an incredible example of community power!

Subcommittees and Volunteers Representing BPCAQ:

Barcaldine/Longreach; Westn' Breast Support Group - Heather Morton
   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Blackbutt/Brisbane Valley District



Fraser Coast - Penny Kilner and Pammie Ellem

Chinchilla/Miles - Joanna Embry   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and Ann Gibbons (Miles)

Emerald - Tiffany Pulford   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Goondiwindi - Gloria Cory   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



Mitchell - Jenny Hockey   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



St George - Emily Martin   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



Toowoomba - Jayne Gentry   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rockhampton



All our board members and subcommittee members are volunteers. Our association employs just one part-time office administrator, Jacqui Lowrie, who is available at the office on Monday to Thursday 9:30am - 3:00pm.

 

Elected Management Committee as voted on 26 October 2021 at the Annual General Meeting:


President: Gina Fairfax, Vice President: Michael Crouch, Secretary: Mr Michael Crouch, Treasurer: Rebecca Otto

General Board Members: Gina Fairfax, Sydney Williams QC, Jilane Elliott, Dinie McConnel, Dr Chris Pyke, Dr Pammie Ellem

Patron: Dr Glenda Powell Vice Patron: Dr Marie Burke

 

Coping with cancer and dealing with the challenging treatment paths can be an exhausting and emotional journey for the bravest of patients, this is even more challenging for those living outside of a major city where services and support are not always available.  The mission of the Breast & Prostate Cancer Assoc. of Qld Inc is to deliver essential services to patients across rural and regional Queensland.

** Patient assistance grants - for patients living in rural and regional Queensland we provide financial help with the cost of emergency general expenses, travel and treatment to ease the burden of having to travel large distances and be away from their families. Last financial year we provided over $58,264 to 73 patients. All applications are assessed by the local breast/ prostate or cancer care nurse and is for emergency financial relief. The nurses provide support and information about a range of services available to the patient.

**Breast & Prostate Care Nurses  - We have established a Breast & Prostate Cancer Care nurse in the Goondiwindi district with funds provided from the Weengallon Ladies Day Committee and supporters in the Goondiwindi district will be funding a 3 year program. We have previously established nurses in the following districts: Emerald, St George, Rockhampton, Hervey Bay, Charleville, Mitchell, Longreach and Weengallon.

** Nurse further education - we offer scholarships to nurses wishing to specialize in this area, plus provide funding for special conferences and seminars

**Research - we completed funding a PhD study to improve support mechanisms for breast care nurses in a rural setting, being conducted by Pammie Ellem. (2000 nurse of the year). This project has provided much needed professional support for many breast care nurses working in isolated towns across Queensland. 

** Information - we provide a Services and Resources Directory that lists all the support groups, breast care nurses, breast screen clinics and other services specific for breast cancer throughout Queensland. Please email our office for an up to date electronic copy.

**Volunteer Sub-committees and support groups – Blackbutt, Chinchilla, Miles, Toowoomba, St George, Emerald, Mitchell, Goondiwindi, Rockhampton, Central West – Westn Breast Support Group and Augathella, provide support and conduct fundraisers to encourage community awareness. Generally a committee might host an annual event or organize raffles, morning tea etc to help raise awareness in the community and donations recieved fund services for their district, strengthening communities.

In summary; BPCAQ is an important organization because through funding specialist nurses, we are able to provide support and education in many isolated areas.  Through research we can improve outcomes for people suffering from breast and prostate cancer.  Through information we can encourage early screening and detection. Through patient financial assistance grants we can directly help patients with the costs associated with travel and treatment at a ground roots level.  Through sub-committees and support groups we can encourage community support for patients.

We appreciate your support and donations that will assist us in the delivery of these essential services.

 

Rural Nurses interested in undertaking further studies in Breast Cancer via Distance Education, are encouraged to send an expression of interest to our office, scholarships are available to do a single unit via La Trobe University.

 We receive monthly Workplace Donations from the staff at the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Good2Give, Ritchie IGA Stores

 

Containers for Change is a new recycling initiative in Queensland you can donate the cash from your containers directly to our charity by quoting our Account Number: C10011182 at the collection/refund station.

 

Resources

Resources and Services Directories now available for download.
Prostate directory
Breast directory

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