MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release 23 October, 2012
Bluff to Cape Reinga by bike for gynaecological cancer
Brenda Noonan will be cycling from Bluff to Cape Reinga in November to raise funds for the New Zealand Gynaecological
Cancer Foundation. Over 21 days Brenda and three team mates will bike 2,100 km and are asking people to show their
support by making a charity donation.
Last year Brenda cycled 4,565 km across Australia and she’s looking forward to her second long-distance ride, this time
by cycling the length of New Zealand where she lived for the first 45 years of her life. She will be joined by friends
Don and Annie Bright, Margie Silich and Pat Williams as support crew.
“This ride is half the distance of my ride across Australia, but we are also taking half the time” says Brenda. “New
Zealand is also way, way hillier so I’m picking we’ll be pretty fit by the end of this ride!”
Brenda and her team have chosen to support Zonta New Zealand’s District Project 2012-2014, the New Zealand
Gynaecological Cancer Foundation. The Foundation is a national charity working with women and health professionals to
raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancer. The five main types of gynaecological cancers are
ovarian, endometrial/uterine, cervical, vaginal and vulval.
“One woman dies every day in New Zealand from a gynaecological cancer and we are on a mission to significantly reduce
this number,” says Michelle Quirk, General Manager of NZGCF. “We are extremely grateful to individual fundraisers like
Brenda and her team who raise money to support our work and who also raise awareness of gynaecological cancer as they
travel through the cities and towns of New Zealand. We wish the team the best of luck on their adventure and look
forward to cheering them on.”
During her last big ride, Brenda raised around $20,000 for the Heart Foundation in Australia and New Zealand and was
named Best Individual Fundraiser for 2011 by the Queensland Branch of the Australian Heart Foundation.
“Biking Australia was a wonderful challenge and it made me realise if we set a big goal, break it into small segments,
do plenty of planning and work hard to achieve a reasonable level of fitness, then we can achieve anything. Seeing New
Zealand from a bike should be fantastic and I’m excited to be raising money for the New Zealand Gynaecological Cancer
Foundation this time. I’m really looking forward to this next challenge and hope you will all show your support with a
donation, no matter how big or small,” concludes Brenda.
Supporters can donate at – www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/2100kmsin21days/
ends