Dyson Jones and Australian Wool Network’s Charity Wool Sale raises $8400 for RFDS and cancer research

A generous $8400 has been raised for the Royal Flying Doctors Service and Breast Cancer Institute WA at this year’s Dyson Jones Charity Wool Sale, taking a 19-year RFDS fundraising total to more than $215,000.

This year’s sale included two bales with proceeds donated to the RFDS and, for the first time, one bale with proceeds donated to Breast Cancer Research Centre WA.

The two bales were put up at auction and sold for $5300 at the Western Wool Centre on June 29 as part of a Dyson Jones and Australian Wool Networks’ partnership.

Their national fundraising joint venture aims to help reduce the disparity of health service access in rural and remote areas.

During the same week, the AWN wool store in Bibra Lake sold three bales of wool totalling $5612 and AWN Sydney and Melbourne stores sold two bales each for $9500 and $6912 respectively to total $27,326 nationally towards its RFDS fundraising.

Dyson Jones wool manager Peter Howie said the partnership would continue to support the RFDS for its “worthy cause”.

“There was good competition and with these wools doing well in the marketplace, there was good support,’’ he said.

The two bales of 15.3 micron wool, that had a yield of 68.5 per cent and a length of 79mm, were bought by Techwool Trading WA senior buyer Russell Fraser.

“It was exceptional quality wool and well put together by Dyson Jones,” he said.

“These bales of fine wool will be processed in Italian mills for the quality suiting market.”

The Dyson Jones and AWN partnership also auctioned the inaugural bale of wool to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research Centre WA last week.

The entire bale was donated by Manjimup woolgrower and former Jumbuck Shearing contractor Ron Niven, who has been involved in raising funds for the centre for many years.

Mr Niven said the bale represented one of the last produced from his ‘The Grange’ stud as he has sold his property and plans to retire from 40 years of farming.

Mr Niven supplied a 141kg bale of 16 micron fine wool for the auction which sold for $3100 to New England Wools WA senior buyer Darren Calder, who was “happy to contribute to a worthy cause”.

“This bale will go straight to an Italian mill,” Mr Calder said.

Breast Cancer Research Centre — WA business manager and interim chief executive officer Fiona Cocks said she was grateful for the generous support from the wool industry.

She was also presented with a check for $86,000 from Yorkrakine Merino producer Quentin Davies from funds raised at his family’s woolshed last year when they hosted the Pink Shearing for Liz Day fundraiser.

The annual affair is the Wheatbelt’s biggest charitable events and is co-ordinated by the Jumbuck Shearing Team and held in a pink-themed shearing shed at Di and Quentin Davies’ Cardiff Merino and Poll Merino stud, just south of Wyalkatchem.

The idea for the fundraiser began in 2014, when shearer Tom Reed and his wife Lucy tragically lost their good friend — Albany woman Liz Roberts — to breast cancer.

Each year since, the Reeds have rallied a team of shearers to donate a day’s earnings to the Breast Cancer Research Centre WA and have held the event at the Davies’ shed.

“The centre is so grateful for our relationship with the Shear for Liz team and the generous support they have provided us over recent years,” Ms Cocks said.

“They (Shear for Liz team) are always finding new ways to support us, and the donation of proceeds from the wool auction is another example.

“Support like this from Mr Davies, shearer Tom Reed and Mr Niven and their families and friends allows us to further our world-leading research into treatment and support for breast cancer patients and their families here in WA.”

Mr Davies said the annual Pink Shearing for Liz Day event was being planned for September this year.