Banding together for Bloomhill

Bloomhill Cancer Care has a lot to celebrate, and the group is hosting a month full of events and activities that the community  can get involved with.

Despite a tumultuous start to the year – the Buderim-based cancer support charity was faced with the possibility of cutting back services due to lack of funding – Bloomhill has come back better than ever with a number of infrastructure projects in the pipeline and a financially secure future.

Bloomhill CEO Chris Franck says  the $850,000 pledged by the Federal Government has been received, along with a $570,000 flagship grant and a $130,000 interest-free loan from Hand Heart Pocket, the charity of Freemasons Queensland.

The flagship grant will help fund construction of a two-storey therapy wing in Buderim with eight multi-functional rooms for assessments and individual therapies, a medical gym, improvements to the site’s entrance and 40 additional parking spaces.

When additional funding is secured,  the new wing will be further developed  to include a commercial gymnasium, hydrotherapy pool and multi-functional group activity centre.

The interest-free loan will be used to build a commercial-sized shed to relocate Bloomhill’s distribution centre onsite. The current centre, which supports its op shop social enterprise business, is located in Kunda Park and costs the charity $60,000  a year in leasing expenses.

June 2 marks International Cancer Survivors Day, making it the perfect launch for a month of celebrations, with the overall theme of Be There for Bloomhill.

“We want to let the community know what Bloomhill is and what we are about and to thank the community for all of their support and to have a good party,” Mr Franck says.

“We are out of survival mode and are now in a constructive, building atmosphere and everybody’s so engaged in finding ways to do more of what we do and to do it well.”

Mr Franck says Bloomhill has experienced 40 per cent growth each year for the past two years and 2019 is gearing up to be bigger again.

“It has been unbelievable, the amount of support that we’ve got, more so in the numbers of people pledging to volunteer. We had 41 engineers turn up on May 21 during a day of the Air Biz national conference to help us build a new office, which would have cost us $30,000,” he says.

“It is humbling that so many people  are willing to give of their time and money and we hope that it will continue into the future.”

Get involved

June 1: Sunshine Coast Forest Market
The inaugural monthly market will be held from 7am to 12pm at the Bloomhill Wellness Centre, 58 Ballinger Road, Buderim. Browse the artisan stalls for fresh fruit and veg, delicatessen items, grab a fresh coffee and check out the arts, crafts and designs.

June 5:  Cancer Survivors Day Morning Tea
Bloomhill will host a morning tea at the Wellness Centre in Buderim for staff and clients. Sponsorship is being sought for morning tea costs and any businesses wishing to contribute can contact Nikki on 0419 776 226.

June 8:  Glenfinnan Estate launch and  Open Day
The McGrath and Cube Developments land release at Glenfinnan will be officially launched with an open day. A generous donation from every block of land sold in the estate will be donated to Bloomhill. There will be face painting and fun for families from 9am to 12pm.

June 13 to June 22:  Hope and Peace from Within exhibition
This stunning display of powerful and moving photographs of Bloomhill cancer survivors has been created as a beautiful coffee table keepsake book. Cancer survivor and Bloomhill client Joe Surace is a professional photographer who shot a series of images late last year. Each survivor shared their stories for the publication. The free exhibition will be held at the Old Ambulance Station in Nambour 10am to 3pm Mondays to Saturdays. To register, visit Eventbrite.com.au and search ‘Hope and Peace from Within’.

June 16:  Jazz & Shiraz One of Bloomhill’s most popular annual events, Jazz & Shiraz runs from noon until 4pm at the centre. Bring a picnic rug and nibbles to enjoy the sultry jazz sounds of  Girl Friday or purchase cheese platters, fine wines and beers on site. Tickets are available at bit.ly/2YwOOgS.

June 21:  Be There for Bloomhill –  Annual Giving Day This is a brand new fundraising campaign that invites Coast residents to be creative and inspired to host any kind of event, project, morning tea, or give-back program with a focus on the ‘B’ in ‘Be There’. Get your thinking caps on and come up with your  very own B event. It could be a breakfast, a brunch, a barbecue or a bake sale and guests might pay an entry fee or donation with all proceeds going to the wellness centre in Ballinger Road. A Bloomhill community fundraising platform will be launched in June.

Joe Surace’s book featuring Bloomhill patients will be launched later this month