The Advertiser Cessnock
Story by Chloe Coleman
Journalist | Maitland Mercury
In an incredible tribute to their aunty and sister-in-law, Jessica Ingram and her mother Jenny Bosden have raised $65,000 for brain cancer.
Jess and Jenny are the organisers behind A Day for Wendy, a fundraising event for the Mark Hughes Foundation held for the first time at Nineteen Hunter Valley on Tuesday, January 31.
The pair launched the event in memory of their dear family member Wendy who sadly died of brain cancer in January 2022.
A few weeks out from the event they thought they were pushing it hoping to raise $50,000, and they well and truly smashed that goal.
"It was very overwhelming, we weren't expecting it to go that high, but the amount of support we had was absolutely fantastic," Jess said.
Jess said her Aunty Wendy was special to her and everyone in the family.
"We just wanted to keep her legacy going in memory for her, and also support the Mark Hughes Foundation who gave her so much support," she said.
The Mark Hughes Foundation helped Wendy by providing access to their nurses and trials, and she also benefited from their research.
"Wendy had an operation to remove as much of the tumor as they could to give her a longer lifespan, and the trials that Wendy had available to her - she outdid all of their life estimates, all with the help of Mark Hughes Foundation and Dr Craig Gedye," Jess said.
A Day for Wendy featured 18 holes of golf at The Vintage, with wine tasting and prizes throughout the day, followed by lunch at Nineteen Hunter Valley where there was auctions, raffles and live music.
Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi was the event's master of ceremonies, and Mark Hughes attended as did Wendy's doctor Dr Gedye.
There were 128 people confirmed to play golf, but the turn out ended up being even more as the day went on.
Jess said she kept it together pretty well throughout the day until she heard the fundraising total.
"It was really emotional, it was just very overwhelming to see everyone come together and support our family, our Wendy and the foundation as well," Jess said.
The funds came from holes being sponsored, raffle tickets and tickets to play golf.
Jess said she is proud to have the money going to the Mark Hughes Foundation.
"I think Mark's an inspiration to be honest, what he has been through himself being diagnosed with brain cancer, and the support for foundation provided for our Wendy - we just wanted to give back," she said.
"It takes a lot of money to keep the foundation going, and his team is so amazing with the research they're doing. We just want to do what we can to support families going through what we have."
Jess and Jenny plan on hosting the event again in 2024, and making it even bigger and better.
