CLARE LACEY
Inspire Health Services is hosting a half marathon sled push in West End this Saturday to raise money for Queensland’s only children’s palliative care facility, Hummingbird House.
The Inspire Charity Challenge will see volunteers, staff, local businesses and community members getting involved to help the Chermside-based children’s hospice.
Event participants will work as a team, taking turns to push a weighted sled back and forth in relay style for more than 21 km, with each lap bringing in more donations for Hummingbird House.
Hummingbird House, which is Queensland’s only children’s hospice, provides short break stays, family support services, creative therapies, and end of life care including grief and bereavement support.
Queensland Government statistics estimate around 3700 Queensland children are currently living with life-limiting conditions.
Diagnosis with a life-limiting condition means a child is not expected to reach their 18th birthday, and in most cases their life expectancy is much shorter.
Hummingbird House prides itself on delivering best-practice paediatric palliative care for these children.
Inspire Health Services client relations manager Sherstin Luppi said Hummingbird House was an obvious choice for Inspire to support.
“Since the beginning, Inspire has serviced thousands of members of the Greater Brisbane community to improve their health, wellness, fitness and performance,” Ms Luppi said.
“Our biggest mission is to encourage our community to be passionate about their health and to help as many people as we can to live a quality life,” she said.
“The director himself has two kids and a third on the way, so it was a given that we were going to support the Hummingbird House with such an event.”
Ms Luppi said the money raised at the sled push would make a huge difference in the lives of Hummingbird House patients.
“This charity day will ensure patients get their end of life to be supremely incredible,” she said.
“We’re matching every donation so we’re encouraging people to donate one dollar for each lap they push.”
Hummingbird House general manager Fiona Hawthorne said fundraising events for Hummingbird House were vital to help raise community awareness.
“Events such as this will help us get the word out there that Hummingbird House exists,” Dr Hawthorne said.
“It’s only through fundraising that we can keep Hummingbird House as a free service for the families who need us,” she said.
Dr Hawthorne said it was important the services at Hummingbird House never came out of families’ household budgets.
“As Queensland’s only children’s hospice, Hummingbird House is a home away from home, a place where kids can be kids, precious memories can be made, and families can reconnect,” she said.
“Doing all of this takes skill and costs money, but it will never cost families money from their household budget.”
“Every year, it costs over $4.8 million to run [and] we are proudly supported by the state and federal governments each year for $1.7 million, but we must raise the remaining funds needed with the support of the community.”
For more information and to register for the sled push event on August 31, visit the event page.
To find out more about Hummingbird House, visit their website.