Bloomhill Centre expansion underway
19-Dec-2011Bloomhill Cancer Help celebrated the beginning of construction of the long-anticipated extension to its Therapy House at a 'Commencement of Construction' ceremony on Tuesday, 15 November.
The event began at 12pm at the Bloomhill Cancer Help House at 58 Ballinger Road, Buderim and marked the first step in the expansion, with former Olympian and Bloomhill patron, Raelene Boyle AM MBE leading the ceremony.
Bloomhill President, Jenny Carroll said the extension means people diagnosed with cancer and their families will have better access to services and support.
"Bloomhill was in desperate need of this extension," Jenny said.
"With more than 900 clients and growing, the Bloomhill Therapy House in Buderim had reached maximum capacity with treatment rooms sometimes booked for more than a month in advance," Jenny said.
Bloomhill Cancer Help is a Sunshine Coast based charity that provides support and assistance to those affected by cancer. Operated by a team of dedicated professional staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill offers counselling, transport to appointments, respite care and a range of complementary therapies and other practical help.
After almost a year of fundraising for the extension through their Target 300 campaign, the charity announced in June they had been granted a $500,000 funding boost from the Commonwealth of Australia to support the health needs of regional communities.
"We applied for the grant in November last year and were very surprised and delighted that we were successful," Jenny said.
"Bloomhill was the only small charity to receive funding from the grant pool, all the other recipients were major hospitals," Jenny said.
"As a non-profit organisation, we rely on the money raised through our Op Shops, donations, grants and fundraising activities to enable us to continue offering our support to the Sunshine Coast community," Jenny said.
"Target 300 got us well on our way, raising $90,000 and we are very grateful to everyone who generously donated to the campaign," Jenny said.
"The money raised through Target 300 and the Government funding will be used to build and fit out five new therapy rooms, additional office space and hopefully also refurbish the entire Therapy House," Jenny said.
"We are expecting the extension to be ready by May 2012," Jenny said.
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