Slip into something a little more charitable at the Santa Speedo Shuffle

Posted on 22 July, 2022

It is a fundraiser designed to turn heads—and with speedos, Santa hats and a distinct lack of summer warmth it does just that.

At the end of the month, Canberran shufflers will be braving the chill around Lake Burley Griffin for one last run, in memory of co-founder Andrew Prowse who passed away last year from Cystic Fibrosis.

“We started the event about 10 years ago and we wanted to literally turn heads because on the outside cystic fibrosis looks a bit sexy. But on the inside, it’s a really difficult condition to live with,” Andrew’s wife and Head Santa, Heidi Prowse explains.

“So, we dreamt up the Santa Speedo Shuffle, and when he passed away last year, he looked at me with his beautiful puppy, dog eyes and his dimples and he said, “will you do just one more for me,” and I said, ‘of course, I will.’ So here we are.”

“We’ve got an ambitious target to raise $200,000 this year. We’ve just passed the first $60,000 and if we raise the $200,000, the event [in its lifetime] will crack the million dollars. I think that kind of fundraising really connects to the type of human Andy was and the type of lives he impacted.”

“I actually had another person with CF tell me that when they were in the hospital at the same time, they can’t go and see each other because of cross-infection but he made sure that the comfy chair was in her room. Even when he was having his worst day, he was still checking in on other people and really made people feel cared about,” Heidi says.

 

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Kate Daly was just five weeks old when she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and now at 18 years old, she is once again taking part in the Santa Speed Shuffle.

“It’s the most exciting way to get everyone together and remind us of the big community that we have and really raise that money so that everyone in the ACT is subsidised, they can get their vitamins and their equipment that they need and also just to be excited to be in the community of CF,” Kate explained.

“It’s getting bigger, but it is a super tight-knit group. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone is super supportive. If you ever need anything, you’ve got it. And it’s a proud community, proud of what we’ve got, and we all stick together, and everyone is just there for each other through everything.”

There is currently no cure for Cystic Fibrosis, and it is the most common genetic disease in Australia, affecting over 3,000 people with one in four Australian babies born with Cystic Fibrosis every year.

For Sally-Anne Clark it came as a complete shock when her daughter Millie, who is now eight years old, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at just 16 days old.

“Millie was born and diagnosed in April 2014 and then we participated in our first shuffle that July. When we launched our little team, Millie’s campaign, that was how we told our family and friends. It’s such an isolating disease in the community, and you can’t necessarily come together but this is an opportunity that I’ve always used to connect particularly with some of the other mums,” Sally-Anne explains.

“When Millie was diagnosed, we were still in the hospital and Kate’s mum came and met us and that initial connection to someone that had been through it and had come out the other end and was now on this journey. And then connecting with new mums that had kids around the same age or that had kids after us just in this sense of camaraderie. Raising a child with CF is a very unique proposition,” Sally-Anne explained.

Here in Canberra, Cystic Fibrosis ACT is providing support to over 70 people living with Cystic Fibrosis in the local and surrounding area.

“I was diagnosed at five weeks old with Cystic Fibrosis and it’s just daily treatment involving two hours of physio, 50 tablets a day and a bunch of exercises to keep your lungs moving as well as pretty regular hospital admissions, due to lung infections because CF primarily impacts your lungs and digestive system. I think that’s why CF ACT is so important—to do those treatments and to take those medications, we need their help and they’re the ones that help us to do that just to stay healthy,” Kate says.

It is the end of an era for the Santa Speed Shuffle. So dig out your speedo from where it’s buried under your winter layers and make sure to register for your hot lap of Lake Burley Griffin in memory of Andrew Prowse.