2011
2011 Golf Challenge with Ian Stanley
Superb 28 degree weather greeted the 68 golfers who joined our annual fundraising golf day at the beautiful Victoria Golf Club (VCC) in Cheltenham on Wednesday 19 October. Being only one month to the Australian Masters, the VCC golf course was immaculate and we were indeed truly privileged to be playing at such an esteemed golf club in the heart of Melbourne’s sandbelt country - a golfing experience on par with the world’s best courses!
After a challenging afternoon on the golf course, the golfers relaxed on the terrane with a cool ale before a sumptuous BBQ dinner in the dining room. We were most fortunate to have former Australian golf professional and MonashHeart patient Mr Ian Stanley as our guest speaker for the evening. Ian gave use a light hearted insight into his professional career, and more recently his life saving experiences under the care of the MonashHeart team.
We are indeed very appreciative of all our dedicated sponsors who supported this special day; without them such an important fundraising event would not have been possible. In particular we sincerely thank Zouki Monash for being our major sponsor. $40,000 was raised for the purchase of a highly specialised ‘beat-to-beat’ finapres monitor for the cardiac catheterisation laboratories – a advanced piece of equipment only available from the Netherlands to enable us to more closely monitor patients undergoing complex cardiac rhythm procedures.
Our sponsors:
Monash Rotaract trivia night
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MonashHeart was honoured to be the beneficiary of the Monash Rotaract trivia night held on Friday 12 August at the Clayton Town Hall. With over 200 keen trivia buffs attending, the night was an amazing success with $3360 raised. These wonderful funds will be used to purchase small portable blood pressure machines for all our service sites and a oxygen saturation probe for our paediatric services. These new pieces of equipment will lead to a significant improvement in our ability to assess and manage cardiac patients of all ages. |
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Murray to Moyne Ride
24 avid cyclists from MonashHeart, Southern Health and St Kilda Police joined forces on the first weekend in April on the 24 hour Murray to Moyne bicycle ride; a challenging 520 kilometres from Mildura in the north to Port Fairy in the south. As night time fell on Saturday night, the team truly began to appreciate exactly what a challenge this ride would be, riding into the darkness up through the Grampians escarpment. Arriving in Port Fairy on Sunday morning after the final 90 kilometres, the team has reason to smile, raising close to $35,000 for new equipment to help improve medical treatment provided to MonashHeart patients.
Special thanks to all intrepid cyclists and our wonderful support team who made this feat possible. Particular thanks to all sponsors – from the many individuals who were inspired to support our ride with both big and small donations, to our corporate sponsors who provided financial support or “goods in kind” including General Motors Holden, Oriental Merchant, Arlec Lighting and the VFL Club.
Part of the funds raised will go towards purchasing Victoria’s first ever Lucas Thumper device – an external device which provides chest compressions in the event of cardiac arrest. This device is expected to significantly improve patient outcomes in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory when patients suffer prolonged cardiac arrest during a life-saving angioplasty procedure – it will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of chest compressions while allowing visualisation of the coronary tree during angiography.
Supporters
Trivia nightAs part of our April Murray to Moyne bike ride fundraising efforts, MonashHeart, Southern Health in conjunction with St Kilda Police held a trivia night at the Elwood Sailing Club, Elwood on Friday 18 March 2011. The night was a great success with over 160 people attending. Alan Dew conducted the trivia with flair and polish, with the winning table from Southern Metro Police Command. Special thanks to photographer Jake Lowe, who donated a wonderful photo of the French Alps as a major auction item for the night. The night raised over $4000. |
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Chain Reaction Ride
We were proud to be actively involved in the marvellous fundraising efforts of the 2011 Chain Reaction Bike Challenge - a gruelling 1200 kilometre ride from Sydney to Melbourne over the Snowy Mountains - to raise funds for children’s charities.
Chain Reaction pledged their commitment to raise significant funds from their 2011 ride to assist in the purchase of a specialised imaging-compatible incubator for sick newborn and premature babies at Monash Medical Centre. MonashHeart contributed to this wonderful fundraising effort by helping with training and event preparation, but also by having staff member Nick Youngs participate in the ride.
Nick Youngs is our lead cardiac rhythm cardiac technologist, MonashHeart. He is an accomplished rider; a A grade rider with Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, who has recently completed over 2250 kilometres in the 2010 tour of the Tour De France.
The Chain Reaction ride raised over $1 million, a record in their five year history. The 44 cyclists were welcomed home on Friday 18 March by Lord Mayor Robert Doyle at the Melbourne Town Hall. Congratulations to all the riders.
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Watt bike challenge
Over $2800 was raised on Wednesday 23 February 2011 when teams of riders from MonashHeart, Chain Reaction and Southern Health competed in a Watt bike challenge at Monash Medical Centre, Clayton. The stationary Watt bikes set hearts racing during the 10 hour challenge, which saw 10 riders from each team ride for 50 minutes with a 10 minute change over between each rider.
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The purpose of the challenge was to raise money for Nick Youngs, a MonashHeart cardiac technologist, who is participating in this year’s 1,200 kilometre Chain Reaction Challenge between Sydney and Melbourne. Special guest appearances (and rides) were made by Luke Darcy, Andrew McKay and Emma Carney who all very generously donated their time to help raise the profile of Chain Reaction. The Chain Reaction team narrowly defeated the MonashHeart team 330 kilometres to 323 kilometres. |
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