News

Everyday 58 people in Australia are diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This is about 21,000 Australians each year. Breast Cancer is the most common cancer affecting Australian women and it is estimated that 1 in 7 women and 1 in 556 Australian men will be given the diagnosis in their lifetime.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is a global health campaign held each October to raise awareness about Breast Cancer. This year Central West Credit Union showed our support by fundraising money and spreading awareness amongst our communities throughout the month of October. 

Staff proudly wore vibrant pink shirts and spent hours transforming our branches into a pink wonderland. Our fundraising efforts came in all shapes and sizes and were only limited to the imagination of our staff. Across our branches we sold a number of items including pink pens, baked goods, keyrings and bookmarks, earrings, flowers, strawberry plants and a lolly guessing competition. 

Forbes Branch - 
Highlights of the month were the Member’s Morning Tea held at our Forbes branch on Friday 18th October. We invited our members to have morning tea with staff to recognise and acknowledge Cancer Survivors, Cancer Fighters and Cancer Supporters as well as share their own stories about Breast Cancer. Our Member’s Morning Tea was a massive success and seen over $550 in member donations. 

Parkes Branch - 
A similar highlight was the Bake Sale held at our Parkes branch on Friday 25th October. Staff spent hours in the kitchen baking a variety of delicious treats ready to share their cooking with the community. Over 150 containers of baked goods were sold throughout the day bringing the total amount fundraised in the Bake Sale to $1135. The local community again rallied together to share their experiences with Breast Cancer and the successful day saw a significant boost in staff morale. 

Cowra Branch - 
Another BCAM highlight was the passionate and innovative fundraising ideas shown by staff at our Cowra branch throughout all of October. Cowra staff showed their creativity by baking and decorating gingerbread in the shape of Breast Cancer ribbons. They sold bunches of fresh flowers straight from their home gardens and hand beaded pink key rings and bookmarks for the community to enjoy. These creative fundraising ideas helped bring in a generous amount of donations and more stories were encouraged between staff and the community.

Thanks to the generous contributions of our local communities and the time and effort put in by staff, CWCU was able to fundraise $4,931.43 in community donations for Breast Cancer Awareness. In recognition of this extraordinary effort, CWCU graciously donated a further $5,000 to this important cause bringing the total fundraised amount for Central West Credit Union’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month to $9,931.43.

These funds have been donated to the McGrath Foundation through local Breast Cancer Nurse Dianne Green and to Cowra’s local Cancer Support group, to help support those who have been affected by Breast Cancer. 

Central West Credit Union says thank you to everyone who was involved in making our Breast Cancer Awareness Month a massive success. We appreciate everyone who contributed by donating money, sharing their story or sharing their time to make this happen. Seeing our communities come together to shed light on this important campaign was truly inspiring.