On Sunday 18 July I'll be meandering 6.25km through some of the wineries in the Hunter Valley! The scenery will be exquisite and I'm sure spirits will be high (pardon the pun) as a few thousand of us raise money for Camp Quality, a charity that "brings optimism and happiness to the lives of children and families affected by cancer through fun therapy."

Camp Quality runs four important programs - the Hospital Program, the Recreational Program, the Education Program and the Family Support Program - and they all centre around the adage that laughter is the best medicine.

Some staggering statistics from their website:

- There are approximately 15,000 children between the age of 0-18yrs living with cancer in Australia today.
- On average another 900 children are diagnosed with cancer in Australia each year, that is one child (0-18yrs) every 9 hours.
- The great news is that 7 out of 10 children diagnosed with cancer survive. but sadly approx 3 children under 15 die of cancer each week in Australia.
- Each year approximately 334,000 12-16 yr old teenagers will know someone of the same age with cancer.

They also go on to say that 37% of families borrow money due to the financial effects of having a young person with cancer. Can  Read more...