MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release (Download PDF Version)
14 August 2017
“When your child is diagnosed with cancer, everything else in life takes a backseat.”
The Gold Coast Chapter of the Harley Owners Group, in conjunction with the Emma Love Childhood Cancer Charity,
are riding for Love on 19 August 2017 to raise the awareness of childhood cancer and to raise much needed funds for
Queensland charity, Childhood Cancer Support.
More than 50 Harley-Davidson riders and pillion passengers are generously donating their time and their bikes and
are riding to support regional and rural children diagnosed with cancer to ensure they have a place to call home at
Childhood Cancer Support whilst receiving long term cancer treatment in Brisbane.
The bikers and their pillions will experience the thrill of a ride as they head off at 8am from Gold Coast Harley-Davidson
in Nerang, ride in convoy through the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland enjoying the scenery and morning tea, then onto
the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane at approx. 11.30am to visit the sick children in hospital and give them
an opportunity to sit on the back of a Harley-Davidson and meet the bikers. The ride will then continue to New Farm
Park where the group can then recharge. The bikers and their pillions will then travel back down to Gold Coast Harley-
Davidson in Nerang to complete the day at 3pm.
Organisers of the Ride for Love, Gold Coast residents and Gold Coast Harley Owners Group members, Stuart and
Leanne Love, know only too well the enormous stress placed upon a family when their child is diagnosed with cancer.
Stuart and Leanne have been raising the awareness of childhood cancer and the work of Childhood Cancer Support
since they stayed with the charity in 2011 and 2012 whilst their daughter Emma was in treatment.
“In 2010 our 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with a Spindle Cell Rhabdomyosarcoma. This is not something that
any parent wishes to hear. For three years Emma fought bravely but unfortunately lost her battle just after her 13th
birthday. For those who knew Emma, everything she did in life was to help others and to make people laugh.” With that
in mind Stuart and Leanne decided that the best way to honour Emma and to help other families going through this
horrid journey was to organise the Emma Love Childhood Cancer Charity to raise awareness of childhood cancer and
also to raise money for Charities.
“During one of the hardest times we have had to face as a family, Childhood Cancer Support became our home away
from home when we needed it most. The free accommodation for our entire stay helped ease the financial burden,
and the sense of community was unlike any other for oncology families. We felt so lucky to have been the recipient of
services and support which we couldn’t have found anywhere else.”
General Manager of Childhood Cancer Support, Helen Crew says, “Childhood Cancer Support is very grateful to the
Gold Coast Harley Owners Group and the Emma Love Childhood Cancer Charity for supporting the work of our charity.
Childhood Cancer Support relies on the ongoing support of the Queensland community to ensure we can provide a
place to call home to more than 70 regional and rural families that we accommodate in our family-styled units each
year.”
Mrs Crew said, “Brooke, a 13 year old who has been fighting brain cancer and who stayed at Childhood Cancer
Support this year during her treatment at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, will be our Young
Ambassador on this Ride for Love event on 19 August. Brooke will follow the riders in a two seater Porsche convertible
lending her support to the riders as they raise awareness of childhood cancer in our community.”
Childhood Cancer Support has grown over the years into a three campus facility, containing 13 fully self-contained
units at Herston, 4 self-contained units at South Brisbane plus 3 short-stay rooms at South Brisbane, with additional
amenities that allow parents the opportunity to escape the hospital without being too far away. Because Childhood
Cancer Support is family-centred, they support the children, their families and communities through the various stages
of the journey, regardless of the outcome for the child. They have never received any government funding to provide
this service to the community in their 42 year history.
All Childhood Cancer Support services are provided free of charge to regional and rural paediatric oncology families
throughout Queensland, NSW, NT and even from the Pacific Islands.
To support Ride for Love and book a seat on the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, whilst supporting Childhood
Cancer Support at the same time – contact Mandy on 0408 441 827 or email activities@goldcoasthog.com.au
For more details about Childhood Cancer Support and ways to become involved, please go to www.ccs.org.au or call
07 3844 5000.
In Australia each year, a child is diagnosed with cancer every 14 hours. But diagnosis is only the first step. In
Queensland childhood cancer treatments are only available in Brisbane, so many regional families must leave their
homes, family, jobs and support networks for many months in order to access lifesaving cancer treatments for their
child. Families are often on a plane within hours of being diagnosed, with no idea of where they will live during this
traumatic time. That’s where Childhood Cancer Support steps in.
Childhood Cancer Support is the only charity specifically accommodating children with all forms of paediatric cancer
and their families for more than 40 years.
-ends-
All Media Enquiries – contact Helen Crew, General Manager of Childhood Cancer support on 07 3844 5000 or 0407 643 448.
