A Wagga paddler is taking up the challenge to fundraise money for the Forrest Centre Hospice.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sandy Doyle, one of Bidgee Dragons paddlers, enjoys life on the water and is keen to for this mammoth undertaking.
“Ill be taking part in the 50th year of the Mighty Murray Marathon,” she said.
“It’s 404 kilometres over five days, down the Murray River from Yarrawonga to Swan Hill in November this year.”
“With me is a group of Dragon Boat Paddlers from all over regional NSW, including the NSW Regional Team that I paddled with at the Australian Dragon Boat National Championships.”
Mrs Doyle is no stranger to training hard for the events.
“I’ve just come back from Bathurst,” she said.
“I trained with some of the members, we did 18 kilometres on Saturday and six kilometres on the Sunday.
“If I’m not in the dragon boat, I’m in the kayak and I also do general fitness at the gym three days a week.”
Mrs Doyle’s list of accomplishments is lengthy.
It includes the 55-kilometre Ord River Dragon Boat Marathon in 2014, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat International in 2015, the 42-kilometre Derwent River Tassie Dragon Boat Marathon in 2016, the 2017 World Masters – where she won two silver medals – and the 2017 and 2018 Australian Dragon Boat Nationals.
As part of the challenge, each paddler is required to raise funds for a community program in their local area. Mrs Doyle decided the Forrest Centre Hospice was a worthy cause.
“It’s a facility that will benefit a lot of people in the community,” she said.
“It allows people to be in a comfortable environment for themselves and their loved ones.”
The 10-bed palliative care Hospice in Lewisham Avenue, Wagga is set to open in late September.
The hospice will include single room accommodation, spaces for families to gather, and consulting rooms for visiting doctors and other health professionals.
The chief executive officer Evan Robertson said the hospice will provide respite and long-term end of life care to all people to facilitate a dignified death.
“We appreciate Sandy choosing us and we wish her well in her paddling endeavour,” he said.
Mrs Doyle is running a movie premiere fundraiser on September 13 at 7pm. The movie is Christopher Robin starring Ewan McGregor. All tickets are $20 each with proceeds going to The Forrest Centre Hospice.
Tickets for the movie are available at The Forrest Centre reception or by contacting 0407 289 805 or 02 6921 3161.
In order to confirm numbers, Mrs Doyle has asked where possible to book tickets before September 7 in order to confirm numbers with the cinema.