Albany Community Hospice ‘blown away’ again by support for 2023 Spinathon with more than $34,000 raised

More than $34,000 has already been raised for the Albany Community Hospice by the annual Spinathon, which took place at the weekend. At Spinathon individual riders and teams of riders kept the wheels of their spin bikes moving for 24 hours from noon Saturday through to noon on Sunday. The AHC’s target of $24,000 had been passed by more than $10,000 on Tuesday, with the hospice hopeful it could raise even more by the time donations officially closed on Sunday night. It costs $1205 a day for one bed in AHC, 75 per cent of which is covered by funding received by the organisation. Its funding shortfall this year is expected to be more than $500,000. ACH fundraising committee chair Jeanann Barbour said she was “over the moon, blown away and gobsmacked” by how well the event went. “It means that we’ve made a really good start to this year’s fundraising efforts,” she said. “One event raising even $34,000 is huge.” This year 120 riders took part over the 24-hour period, including Tammy and Isabelle Bembem who completed the full ride solo. Ms Barbour said it was difficult to express how grateful she was to the riders, volunteers, sponsors and all those who came along to support the event over the two days. “We did aim to beat last year’s total of $27,000 but we couldn’t imagine getting this much already,” she said. “It’s due to the overwhelming generosity of our community.” AHC provides invaluable palliative care services in a home-like environment. It helps with symptom control issues, end-of-life care and support and family support including informal respite. She said the continued community support for AHC showed how much the service was valued and how generous the wider community was. “I’m in total awe because (the community) responds every time so generously,” she said. “In six years of fundraising I have never had anybody say no to me, and if they aren’t in a position to help, they say come back next year and they donate then.” Donations to support AHC through the Spinathon can be made until online until Sunday night at https://bit.ly/3YTKXdr.