Gett’n wiggy with it event raises $13,620 for brain tumour and traumatic brain injury research

A big thankyou to all that attended and made the event a very special success!

Raising a grand total of $13,620 on the day!

The Event:

“Gett’n wiggy with it” was the “Brain Child” of a conversation that started with Sarah wanting to donate her hair for a wig after losing her Mum post-surgery to remove a brain tumour 5 years ago.

So With Sarah’s sheer determination to grow her hair as long as possible and Katie’s love of a good party, this fundraiser was created.

With the help of an amazing group of friends who kindly volunteered to help our cause, this became a reality and we began our planning to put the “Fun” into fundraising!

None of this would have been possible without our amazing team. Our most heartfelt thanks go to Janene Franklin, Tracy Callanan, Toni Goodall, Andrew and Dayle Skein, Mark and Bree Poynter and Rachael and Steven Johnstone. From amazing decorations, game creations and our very successful Tuck shop they were all invaluable.

We were taken aback a few weeks prior to our event when Steven jumped on board our fundraising bandwagon, volunteering to donate his hair. This saw our initial fundraising amount double very quickly, and on the day of our event, before we even started we had managed to raise over $3000. Steven's Fundraising Page

We created a number of Brain themed games to keep our guests entertained until the “Mane Event“. Steven was our warm up hair cut followed by Sarah who said goodbye to her beautiful long hair and got to realise her dream.

We were lucky enough to get quite a bit of extra money with people very keen to donate further, just to be able to cut a lock of either Sarah or Steven’s hair!

With a turnout of just over 80 people, our little backyard bash turned out to be an overwhelming success, seeing us raise over $13,000. With money still being donated we have decided to keep our donation page active until the end of the year.

We are so very proud of what we have achieved and to be able to support a charity that invests back into the local community and support Neurosurgical research right here in South Australia means a great deal to us.

Sarah Neal & Katie Weeks 

You can still donate to cause here

The story:

We are fundraising in memory of a very special Mum, Wife, Sister, Auntie and friend to many.

Five years ago this August 24^th, we lost my Mum, Denise Knutsen, suddenly after what we felt like a very brief battle with Brain Cancer, with a relatively positive prognosis. From finding a 5cm tumor on her brain, to no longer having her with us was only 4 weeks to the day. Despite a successful surgery, a minor setback in ICU a week later and then ready for rehabilitation 2 weeks after that, we were told she had a Grade 2 tumor with an 8 – 10 year life expectancy and no treatment required at that time. Therefore, we could not have seen coming her passing the following day.

Since Mum’s passing, I have been on a mission to grow my hair long as possible to raise funds and donate my hair for it to be made into a wig for a Cancer patient. For those of you who know me well or have known me a long time, you will also know I have had long hair most of my life and am very proud of my hair. So, I cannot think of a better way to give back to those who need it most and raise important funds not only into Brain Cancer research, but Brain Trauma and post care research, so that stories like ours may have a different outcome.

It is for this reason we have chosen NRF as the Research Foundation to receive any funds we raise from our “Gett’n Wiggy With It” Fundraising event.

We will be holding our “Mane” Event on Saturday 26^th August to commemorate Mum’s 5^th Anniversary, in which my locks will be cut by Mum’s hairdresser of 15 years.

In the meantime, we are calling upon the support and generosity of family and friends to help us raise funds and reach our goal of $2500 for the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation.

Thanking you all in advance.

Sarah

You can still donate to cause here

Thanks for the prizedonors for the event:

AFS Frewville Foodland - sliced bread and rolls. Paper napkins and cups. Food voucher. Raffle and game prizes
Charlesworth nuts - gift basket
Garden grove - Voucher
Somerset Hotel - Voucher
Charleston Hotel - Voucher x 2
Schnithouse - Voucher x 2
Cellarbrations Frewville - 6 bottles of wine
Pest Inspect Australia - Termite inspection and Spider Treatment
Jurlique - Gift Basket
Di Litton - Nutrimetics selection
Jenni Triffet - Perchalla and Turner Travel Voucher
Paula Macdonald - Qi Change Wellness Voucher
Janene Franklin - Fire Pit, Robe, Koo Coverlet Bed Set
Red Hen Gin - The Sicilian Gin
Tony’s Wholesale Flowers - Fresh Flowers
Denese Fitzgerald - Air Fryer
Karen Kesby - “Arctic Ice” Original Art Work
Sara Huffen - Hand made Crochet Blanket
Stock Plants & Semaphore Pets and Garden - Plants and ceramic pots x 2
Sue C Agengies - Amalfi Barim Wall Décor, Amalfi Clocks x2
Trevor Gartland - Summer Salt Body Collection
Anna, Little Valley - Eco Minerals Makeup
Adele, Hair Movement - Hair dresser on the day and voucher
Awaken Health Studios - Float Therapy Sessions
Veronika’s Preloved Boutique