The Our Kids Melbourne Cup Garden Party Luncheon will be held on Tuesday, 5 November, at the award-winning Invercauld House.

This is one of Our Kids longest-running events, and it attracts ladies from across the region to gather the girls, frock up, don a fascinator, and enjoy a day of dining and fundraising for local charity Our Kids.

Throughout the day, there will be the BASEC Sweeps, where the ladies could take home 1, 2, or 3 cash prizes. Local businesses will generously treat the ladies. There will be a beautiful surprise from Mel's Melting Moments and stunning products from Winks Hairdressing.

Halls Bus Co is sponsoring prizes to encourage generosity, and the 5-Star beachfront Bryon Suites has generously donated one of its luxury suites and Amber Bryon a $500 dinner voucher to auction.

Continuing the theme of spoiling the ladies, The Fairmarket Lismore Antique Centre has stunning pearl necklaces valued at $595 for two of the ladies who attend and a beautiful smoky quartz and diamond ring retailing for $3,000 that one lucky guest will take home.

The day raises funds for Our Kids, the charity who purchases paediatric equipment for our local hospitals in the region that help keep our children local when needing medical care.

This year, the funds raised on the day will help purchase an Icon Go Retinal Imaging System that costs $159,000. This equipment helps our premature babies, who are vulnerable and need examination for Retinopathy of Prematurity. It is cutting-edge technology that will give a picture of the back of the eye so that the local team can send pictures immediately to the Queensland Paediatric Team, which can provide specialist treatment remotely.

This equipment is needed as some babies are at risk of going blind at 35 weeks. Having this equipment locally and portable means that the local medical team can do a scan on any day and at any given hour, and treatment can commence immediately.

Currently, babies must travel to the Gold Coast for tests, and at least two to three examinations are required.

For some context, retinopathy of prematurity was the cause of Stevie Wonder's blindness.

This equipment will impact Grafton, Lismore and Tweed babies as it is portable and can be shared between sites.

Our Kids Melbourne Cup Garden Party Luncheon Details:

• Date: Tuesday 5 November
• Location: Invercauld House
• Time: 11 am start
• Tickets are $125 per person, with tables of 10 available.

To book, donate to the Icon Go Retinal Imaging System or for more information, contact Rebekka Battista at 0438 417085.