Tag Archives: Health

Herald Sun / CityLink Run for the Kids 2013

Posted in Student View by

PUBLISHED ON 28/03/2013 ON STUDENT VIEW

Annual Run for the Kids continuining to raise much needed funds for the Royal Children”s Hospital:

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On Sunday the 24th of March, 35,000 runners took to the streets of the Melbourne CBD for the annual Herald Sun/CityLink Run for the Kids 2013. After the event’s debut in 2006 it has contributed more than $8 million to the Royal Children’s Hospital in support of the Good Friday Appeal. It remains to be the biggest charity fundraising fun run in Victoria. The atmosphere was full of buzz and excitement.
If the event continues to run every year, the impact will be astonishing to the Royal Children’s Hospital. In 2011–12 the RCH treated 34,784 inpatients. There were 246,140 outpatient clinic appointments and 10,741 children underwent surgery. We had 73,602 children present at our emergency department and approximately 200 children received care in the community every day through RCH@Home. That is so many children, every small part can help. Imagine so many young children being treated yearly, health is something that is precious and valued.

The Royal Children’s Hospital is a vital part that helps so many children and their families each year. Each participant plays a part in benefitting those children at the Royal Children’s Hospital who aren’t able to run, walk or skip their way around the course. The money raised will fund projects, research and technological innovations to ensure that every child receives the very best treatment now and into the future.
There were two course options for participants to choose from;

–       15 km super course: which covers attractions such as the Domain Tunnel, Bolte Bridge, Arts Centre, Crown Casino and Docklands waterfront.
–       5.5 km family friendly course: enjoys the attractions of the Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens.
The short course started at 8:10 am and the long course started at 8:50 am.

Participants raised an amazing $1.95 million yesterday until CityLink then added $50,000 taking the total to an astonishing $2 million.

Participants could either enter as a team or an individual.
There were two categories of teams:
–       Corporate: Teams with six or more runners representing a corporation, company or organisation where all runners are employees or members of the represented corporation, company or organisation.
–       Community: Teams with six or more runners representing a sporting or social club, school or non-profit organisation where all runners are associated with or members of the represented sporting or social club, school or non-profit organisation.
There was no maximum number of team participants that could be part of a team.
When entering as an individual, participants needed to select the distance and category they wished to enter, complete their entry details and answer the entrant questions.
Event T-shirts and singlets could also be bought so that participants could be represented in the sea of participants.

Tony Abbott was amongst the sea of participants yesterday, finishing the 15 km super course in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. Even Australian political figures are getting involved in bettering the lives of young sick Australians.

The event partners included Herald Sun and CityLink, both aim to promote and raise awareness for the event. Since 1931 when the Good Friday Appeal began, employees got together with sport’s officials to run a sports carnival that raised money for the hospital, that was then struggling in the midst of the Great Depression.

Corporate sponsors of the event included Nike, Mazda, 7 News, Mix101.1 Radio, City of Melbourne and the Victorian Police. Nike offered participants free training sessions with Nike+ Run Club, holding sessions four times a week. The training sessions were held on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays starting on Wednesday 30th of January for an eight week program. The sessions covered different distances in each session to get participants ready for the race. There was no need for participants to register; they just needed to turn up on the day.

The top fundraiser for this year’s Run for the Kids was Katia Fowler raising, $7,775.00. Many people raised so much money, even a single dollar can help. If every person in Australia donated a single dollar, then they would be able to raise $22 million, an impact which will change the hospital’s ability in treating the sick children. A single dollar, which would not affect anyone that much, can potentially aim to save a child’s life.

By participating in either the run or donating money you can help so much. Every small effort will make a difference to these children’s life. So next friday in the Good Friday, everyone dig deep, let’s raise as much money as we can and help the patients who are young children and cannot help themselves! I’m sure you don’t need that extra coffee tomorrow morning on your way to work! 🙂

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Moving out of home?

Posted in Student View by

PUBLISHED: 12/5/2012 ON STUDENT VIEW

Moving out, moving up or rather not moving anywhere?

Social Trends are changing…..

Young people nowadays are more likely to remain living with family, rather than moving out of home, until they are older. Naturally, most people eventually leave the home they grew up in and find one of their own. While some people move out when they are quite young, others stay until they get married. It is now common for people to move out in their late teens to late 20’s.

This change in living arrangement of Australian young people has been related to the trend towards partnering at a later age. Statistics show that in 2006 it was less common than in 1986 for a young person to be a partner in a couple family. It was less common in 2006 than in 1986 for a young person to be a partner in a couple family. “The age at which being in a couple family became a more common living arrangement than living with parents was 23 years in 1986.” (Australian Social Trends, March 2009, ‘Couples in Australia’).

Young people are now more likely to remain living with their parents than they used to be. “In 2006, almost one in four (23%) people aged 20–34 years were living at home with their parents, compared with 19% in 1986.” (Australian Social Trends, March 2009) Over the last few decades both young men and women have had changes in their living arrangements. Where the proportion of young women living at home had increased from 13% to 18%, increasing by 36%. The proportion of young men living at home with their parents had increased from 24% in 1986, to 27% in 2006, increasing by 16%.

Baby boomer generations of the 1950’s and 1960’s moved out at a younger age, due to getting married earlier and “playing house”. Young people of today aren’t as interested in “playing house”, there is a big wide world out there they want to explore. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to move out and start a family; social trends have changed. Today’s couples are choosing to marry later on than couples of decades before them. The average age of a bride is twenty-eight to thirty-one and groom being twenty-nine to thirty-three. (Australian Social Trends, March 2009, ‘Couples in Australia’).

Nowadays a bachelor degree isn’t seen as the end of an individual’s formal education. Women and men wish to build a career before settling down. They want to be aware of their own financial future before committing to someone else. They look for similar people who can bring similar security to the partnership.

Young people also have the travel bug. Europe, South America, and World Tours, are big on their agenda. Part of a generation which grew up seeing the world on TV, they want to experience different cultures and traditions.

There is nothing wrong with the people of today changing their lifestyles, it just varies from that of their grandparents.

It will be interesting to see what happens to young people in 2070. Will they get married at all? Will they ever move out? Only time will tell.

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