Lismore local John Mills has been playing golf in the Our Kids fundraising days for years.

This year, he’s playing on local peadiatrician Doctor Chris Ingall’s team and John is proud of the work Chris is doing in the region.

“I’m here to support Chris and the work of Our Kids helping sick children in our region,” John said.

Golfers ready to tee off at the fundraiser.

John joined Chris and other golfers Paul Kelly and Michael Miller to make up a team of four who spent five hours on the golf course on Friday. Each golfer pays $100 a head, with all proceeds going to Our Kids.

“There’s a lot of golfers here today who’ve had kids looked after by Chris,” John said.

The annual event raises money each year for the Our Kids charity. 

“The first year we raised $10,000,” John said. “And each year we raise at least that.

“There’s lot of big organisations involved in supporting the day as well as us locals.

 “I remember when he first came to Lismore from Sydney – he was a skilled doctor and has really helped so many people in our area.”

Now in its 15th year, the Sommerville Laundry Lomax Lismore Golf Day hosted it’s 2019 fundraiser for Our Kids at East Lismore Golf Club.

Since 2005, over 144 golfers each year have been teeing off and have raised over $200,000 to help raise funds for Our Kids.  

Golfers in their buggies ready to play.

Our Kids – also known as the Northern Rivers Children's Health Fund was founded in 2001 by Dr Chris Ingall. 

The aim of Our Kids is to improve the health services for children in the Northern Rivers area, by purchasing paediatric equipment for the Lismore Base Hospital and the surrounding satellite hospitals.

Our Kids also issue annual Community Grants for families or organisations that care for special need children. 

These grants purchase equipment, medicine and therapeutic items to help care for these children. 

Each year the Charity Golf Day fundraise to buy a piece of equipment on the Our Kids Wishlist. 

At the moment there is a need for 2 Resuscitaires, one for Lismore Base Hospital and one for Ballina Hospital, they come with a price tag of $20,000 each.  

As one of this equipment comes with a high price tag, two golf days have united to buy one for the Lismore Base Hospital: Local Government Golf Day and the Lismore Our Kids Golf Day.

The Resuscitaire is an intensive care open crib to resuscitate newborn and babies.

It provides open access for the paediatric medical team while resuscitating the sick little one when they present at Accident and Emergency.

It is a vital piece of equipment that is lifesaving for our sick babies.

The Lismore Our Kids Golf Day also falls on National Bandanna Day which raises funds for Teenagers with Cancer therefore in the spirit of working together and helping others all golfers are donning their bandanas to show their support.  

Our Kids Golf Day organiser Peter Warren said “working together is what is all about, we all love golf and we all have children”. 

“Coming together helps Our Kids, this allow us buy the equipment that is on the wish list,” he said.

Local Government Golf Day organiser Anthony Magarry said “we all have kids and knowing that we can help our babies when they are so sick and when needing medical treatment and at the same time enjoy a game of golf is wonderful”. 

If you would like to support Our Kids, call Rebekka Battista on 66202705. 

For more information about Our Kids, visit http://ourkids.org.au/