Submitted by Cheryl Machen.
We are so excited to be fielding a full breast cancer survivor team from Mackay for the 2026 IBCPC Participatory Festival in France. This is the first time we have been able to do this. For past international events we have had to rely on our friends from Townsville and Gippsland to help us make up a full team.
To assist our members with registration and accommodation expenses we have planned several fundraisers, with the most recent being a very successful Pearls & Lace Afternoon Tea on May 18th. It was attended by over 100 women who donned their pearls and lace to be in the running for some great prizes. We also asked that people bring their own favourite cup and saucer or coffee mug for more chances to win some fabulous prizes. Some of the ladies shared interesting stories about their pearls and lace and were rewarded with a gift from the prize basket.
We hired a community hall which meant we saved on expenses by setting it up and doing the catering ourselves. We have some fantastic bakers and sandwich makers in our team! All prizes were donated and so were most of the afternoon tea ingredients.
Free entertainment was provided by two groups of young children and one of our lovely friends sang and played her guitar. One of our Dragons Abreast Mackay members, Luz, told her story of moving to Australia many years ago and about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment with a bit of humour thrown in.
This function was a financial success and most importantly everyone had a great time with many telling us to let them know when our next fundraiser is on. It was also a great team building exercise for us with everyone helping out in many different ways..
