Our heroes this week are the team from the Fairholme Aquatic Centre who have created an annual event to honour a former swim coach of the centre who lives with Parkinson’s.
What Drives Your Commitment to find a cure for Parkinson’s?
Our group are staff, swimmers and volunteers at Fairholme Aquatic Centre. We began raising funds and awareness of Parkinson’s disease in honour of a former local swim coach, a close friend to our Head Swim Coach at the time. Our event’s aim is to share his passion for swimming with the children in our local community and to help him in his daily battle. We are a very community minded group and love being able to assist others through causes such as this.
Why Shake It Up Australia?
As our annual event was created in honour of a dear friend to the local swimming community who lives with Parkinson’s, it was their decision where the money should go. The family chose to Shake It Up, as they love thought of this money going towards funding the ground breaking projects Shake It Up assists. We believe Shake It Up is a fantastic organisation and hope that our fundraising can help future breakthroughs.
Tell us what you are doing to Shake Things Up?
We host an annual swim meet for children in our region to attend. The meet consists of lots of fun, team based events, bringing children of all ages and abilities together to compete in the fun and welcoming atmosphere. We charge an entry fee in addition to asking for donations and having volunteers run a bake sale to help raise funds. We have lots of promotional material (info graphics and posters) to help create awareness of what Parkinson’s is and how it can impact members of our community.
Greatest Reward?
The community spirit that coming together to achieve our goals creates is a truly rewarding experience to witness. Watching our 17 year old squad swimmers explain the cause to a 7 year old swimming in their first event, and hearing the cheering on the pool deck at the meet is a great feeling. Of course, the real reward is knowing that the funds are going to such a worthwhile cause.
Best advice for people looking to Shake It Up?
Working as a team really helps to not only raise money but spread awareness of this fantastic cause. We are so pleased to be able to have involved many members of our community of all ages.
