A charity that provides assistance for families of country children diagnosed with cancer and other chronic life-threatening illnesses has been given a helping hand to expand operations.
Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders announced today that $7500 has been allocated to Wagga-based organisation Country Hope to establish itself in the Dubbo region.
“Country Hope does amazing work in providing financial and emotional support for the families of sick children when it’s most needed, so it’s a great feeling to be able to provide support,” Mr Saunders said.
“We all hope we’ll never find ourselves in a situation to need such a service, but it’s great to know it’s there, and can now branch out and provide assistance for people in Dubbo and the wider central west.
“It’s hard for people to reach out for help if they don’t know that services exist, so this funding will allow Country Help to establish a footprint in our region.”
Country Hope general manager Ellie Webb said the funding will allow the organisation to do some marketing to make people aware of what it offers.
“We’ve been around for 17 years and we’re obviously well-known in the Wagga and wider Riverina area, but this funding will allow us to get out there and make people in the Central West aware of what we offer,” she said.
“We’re lucky that we’ve worked closely with Mollie and Ange Croft, and Ange has come on board as a director which is great because they’re an amazing family with an amazing story.
“There is so much strain on country families when life-threatening issues arise in children, and often it proves too much, but we hope that by providing some financial assistance and emotional support we can help keep families together while they face that battle.”
For information on Country Hope, visit the website www.countryhope.com.au