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Central West Photo News May 5–11, 2011
snapshot Words and portrait by david dixon
Trivia Fundraiser for Youngcare The trivia night will help raise funds and awareness for Youngcare, a not-for-profit charity that seeks to improve the plight of disabled young people in aged care. Where: Orange High School, Woodward Street, Orange What: Trivia Night When: Saturday, May 7, 6:30 pm Why: To help raise funds to support Ryan Hauville and his partner Bri McFarland in their trek across the Simpson Desert. The funds raised will go directly to constructing purpose built accommodation for young people in NSW. Organise a group of your friends (tables of 8) with a number of raffles and prizes to be won. Guest MC is Glenn Mickle. How: Purchase tickets (tables of 8) from Sallyanne Shuttleworth at Orange Campus, TAFE Western, March Street, or from Bettyanne Hauville, 63915884 (W), 63629592 (H), 0432160417. Payment by cash or cheque only (cheques should be made out to B Hauville)
(Tickets - $10 each – BYO drinks and nibbles AND lots of gold coins for the raffles and auctions)
Bettyanne Hauville; helping son Ryan raise awareness of young people with injuries trapped for life in aged care.
Local family building options for young in care ImagIne beIng only 25 and spendIng the rest of your lIfe In a nursIng home? “pure hell” says one young woman in a recent television report on the placement of young people with injuries into aged care facilities. But this is the fate of thousands of Australians with brain and physical impairments, a fate that Ryan and Bettyanne Hauville are trying to change. A trivia night this Saturday at Orange High School will raise funds for Bettyanne’s son Ryan who is going to cross the Simpson Desert in central Australia for the charity Youngcare. Youngcare aims to build accommodation, awareness and support for the estimated 6500 young Australians who have suffered major injuries or neurological diseases and who have nowhere else to go. “There’s just no other options…I read that up to 4-5 young people per day may be forced into care,” Bettyanne explains. But for her son Ryan, a former Orange High school student, the
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impact is much more personal than that. Three of Ryan’s and his partner Bri McFarland’s friends, including former Oberon boy Jock Watson, are now in aged care after accidents or injuries. “Jock was at University with Ryan and Bri when he had a car accident in 2003 in Bathurst; he got a severe acquired brain injury and required full-time care,” Bettyanne explains. “His family discovered the only option was to go into aged care; at 21, he was in aged care…” Bettyanne says. The psychological, physical, and emotional effects of placing these young people in age-inappropriate care can be devastating. “Generally there’s no interaction, if they do make friends with the old people, they eventually die, it’s so depressing,” Bettyanne says. “Jock will say, ‘what am I doing here?’ and for his rehab to continue, Jock’s mum has to transport him elsewhere… he hasn’t recovered as well as he could have.”
Youngcare was established in 2005 after a family friend of Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had to be placed in aged care. “People are shocked by that, they think they’re health fund will cover them… but it’s a gap in the health care system,” Bettyanne says. To fill this gap, Youngcare has built dedicated facilities in Brisbane and the Gold Coast with plans for purpose-built accommodation in Sydney and Melbourne. The 10-day 320km trek in June across the Simpson Desert’s thousands of sand dunes while carrying their own gear is rated as hard as the Kokoda Trail with Ryan and Bri each required to raise $35,000 among a group of 25 other Youngcare supporters on the journey. The couple have embarked on a gruelling daily training regime to prepare for the trek. “I was just so proud of Ryan and Bri taking this challenge on,” Bettyanne says. “It will be life-changing for those doing it; it will help them think about the people they support,” she says. But Bettyanne is also doing her bit for raising awareness of Youngcare, recently hosting a fund-raising movie night at the Odeon and a TAFE dinner that raised $3500 towards Ryan’s total. The trivia night and trek are also aimed at raising awareness of the plight of young people in aged care and the work of support groups like Youngcare and the Young People in Nursing Homes Alliance. A number of electrical items and other goods have also been donated by local companies to support the event. “It’s all about awareness… 99 out of 100 people would not have heard of Youngcare,” Bettyanne says.
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