Mr HAYES (4:03 PM) —I recently had the good fortune to attend the Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway’s 20th annual charity ball, which was held at Roma Function Centre in Liverpool. Nearly 400 people turned up for the masquerade ball which helped raise more than $24,000 which will be used to purchase two colposcopes for imaging equipment for the Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre. Incredibly, even more money was raised on the night and it will be donated to the Violet Foundation and to Crohn’s and Colitis Australia. The Violet Foundation’s aims are to help people affected by meningococcal disease and raise awareness of the illness. Crohn’s and Colitis Australia provides support and education programs for people living with these two diseases and raises money for research into a cure.

The Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway certainly has an impressive history when it comes to supporting the local community. Over the past 20 years the club has raised much-needed funds for Liverpool Hospital’s maternity ward, the Wig Library, Mainsbridge Special School, Miracle Babies and Hoxton Industries.

During the ball I had the opportunity to catch up with the club president, Ms June Young, as well as Rotary’s 9690 district governor, Mrs Marilyn Mercer. I want to thank these two women for their hospitality and also for taking the time to enlighten me about the good work that the Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway is doing throughout our community. The south-west of Sydney is indeed blessed to have so many groups like the Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway who are genuinely committed to making a difference in people’s lives. I am certain that the average 350 patients who attend the Liverpool Cancer Therapy Unit each day appreciate the financial support that the Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway gives to our community.

Our thanks should also go to the many businesses who contributed to the charity ball to make it such a success through their donations for raffle prizes and for the auction on the night. They all contributed to raise significant funds to help our community. The ball was a perfect example of the local community in the south-west of Sydney coming together to support their own. Once again I congratulate Ms Young for her organising ability and for bringing it all together on the night for an extremely successful evening. It shows what a local community can do when it is focused on delivering support for its own.