Child Cancer Patients to Benefit from SWUG Picture Auction

Press Release for SWUG NZ

Child Cancer Patients to Benefit from SWUG Picture Auction

Children suffering from cancer in earthquake-ravaged Christchurch will be closer to getting a family home built as a result of the generosity of printers and former All Black captain Todd Blackadder.

A donation of $2500 has been made by SWUG (the Single-Width Users’ Group, representing mainly the newspaper sector of the printing industry) to the Child Cancer Foundation in Christchurch.

The funds were raised by the auctioning of a pastel drawing of Todd, now the Crusaders coach, and the Child Cancer Foundation was his choice of charity.

The foundation actually was the winner of not one or two but three cash windfalls at the SWUG Awards Night Dinner, held in Christchurch, where Todd was the guest speaker. Initially a raffle of the portrait raised $700, which with the dollar-for-dollar match from SWUG meant that the charity would gain at least $1400.

However the winner - Adam Newman of Ferag – sold the painting to Craig Amos of PMP who re-raffled the portrait locally and contributed those proceeds as well.

Clare Wilkinson, the foundation’s Funding and Business Development Manager for Canterbury and the West Coast, said it was fantastic of Todd to nominate the charity as recipient of the funds.

“It will go a long way in supporting children with cancer and their families. The funds will be best spent directly on the services we provide for the families that are currently in treatment, particularly over this holiday season when we are trying to keep the families together as much as possible.

“With only two treatment centres in New Zealand, the majority of families are travelling away from their support networks for the lengthy treatment that their children require.

“We are also about to build a new family place after the previous building was demolished after the earthquakes. This is a huge project for 2013 and will require significant fundraising in order to complete it.

“It is a priority for us to re-establish a family place for the families to use that is in walking distance to the hospital and can provide families with a homely non-clinical environment to relax in as an escape,” said Claire.

SWUG Chairman Dan Blackbourn said the organisation was delighted to support the foundation’s work.

“It is heartening to see the generosity of Todd and our members going to further the support of children suffering from cancer and their families, especially in Christchurch where the strain on families has been so great.

“We will look forward to seeing the family centre built and hope that our contribution helps it become reality as soon as possible.”

The donation cheque for $2500

SWUG committee member Danny Trainor presents Claire Wilkinson with the cheque

Former All Black captain Todd Blackadder with his painting, alongside (from left) Craig Amos (PMP), Adam Newman (Ferag)and SWUG chairman Dan Blackbourn

ENDS

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