THE Cerebral Palsy Alliance helps families in need and, next month, Upper Hunter locals will have the chance to help the foundation itself.
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A community walk and family day will take place on Sunday, September 9, at Simpson Park in Muswellbrook, in the hope of raising funds for the charity that provides physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy among other services.
They also help people in rural communities obtain the help they need, so parents or caretakers don’t have to travel hundreds of kilometres back and forth for their child’s treatment.
Little Stroke Warriors Australia co-founder Muswellbrook’s Kylie Facer is organising the event and spoke about the good work the alliance does to assist those caring for affected children, including herself.
“They’ve got the goal of trying to provide early detection for at risk kids within 90 days of life,” she explained.
“So, that’s a pretty massive goal considering that it’s sometimes hard to diagnose a kid with CP (Cerebral Palsy) unless there are already some visible factors.
“That’s essentially why we’re involved and why we put on the day, so we can put a little bit back because they’ve given so much to us.”
The event will be bigger than last year, with market stalls and barbecue food being available after the 1.5 kilometre walk.
There’ll also be a jumping castle and face painting for the kids, while adults can get involved in a raffle, an auction and enjoy music throughout the day, which will wrap up at 3pm.
Ms Facer said despite the importance of what they’re doing, the day itself would be very casual and the physical activity shouldn’t be too testing.
“It’s not a very long walk,” she said.
“So, it’s nothing too arduous.
“When we return, there’ll be market stalls and what-not, the bands will kick in and later on in the day we’ll have the drawing of the major prizes and stuff like that.”
She is expecting more people to participate this year and hopes to surpass the $5000 mark they hit in 2017.
But, Ms Facer also knows the community’s pockets are strained because of the drought.
However, they’ve picked up local sponsors this year which will be a huge bonus, with Home Timber and Hardware, K. Milwain and Sons and the Muswellbrook RSL Club among others jumping on board to help the cause.
Registrations will begin at 9am and the walk will start an hour later, with the festivities at Simpson Park commencing at 11.15am or earlier (if everyone has made it back).