Looking for a day of delicious food, drinks with friends and live entertainment? A day that’s just a little bit fancy and also raises money for a fantastic cause?
Look no further than the upcoming Liverpool Plains Long White Lunch.
Held on Saturday 7 September at the Quirindi Rugby Club, this will form the Quirindi Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) Fundraising Committee’s major fundraiser for the year.
And if you’ve been to one of their events before, you know that they really know how to throw a party!
Liz Brownhill from the committee of Quirindi’s CMRI said, “We change our event style every year, we’ve had jazz days, last year was a denim and diamonds night, golf and bridge days – this gives us the best opportunity of reaching out and connecting with as much of the community as possible so that people can be aware of the amazing work CMRI do.”
This year’s long white lunch promises to be a beautiful day out with plans for décor, food and entertainment all now firmly locked in.
“I’m really excited about this year, we’ve got a gorgeous big white marquee organised for the rugby club which will be decorated in posies of white cotton which we’ve all been busily picking for the day,” said Ms Brownhill.
“The food is organised by Relish Catering, who always make absolutely delicious food, we’ve got live music from Carly Robinson and her partner and we’ve got Hypnotist Michelle Brian as our guest entertainment for the day – she’s so interesting and amusing to watch so that will be a real treat for our guests.”
The dress code for the day is white, but with a touch of blue as a nod to both the colours of CMRI and the Quirindi Rugby Club.
Major event sponsors for this years’ event include Gowings Toyota, AMPS, Hutcheon and Pearce and Carroll Cotton Co.
“Gowings Toyota’s involvement is actually a great story. Obviously, most of us live on the land and all drive big 4-wheel-drive vehicles and at one of our meetings we just had a whole row of Toyota’s parked in a line out the front so we joked that they should sponsor us – and they said yes,” said Ms Brownhill.
In homage to this link, a line up of white Toyota’s will also form part of the décor for the lunch.
CRMI has had an active committee in the Quirindi community for nearly 60 years, and for Ms Brownhill, the connection to her family is a very close one.
“We celebrated 50 years in 2017, the committee in Quirindi was set up by my Mother-in-law’s mother-in-law after a personal experience of cancer the family,” said Ms Brownhill.
“We now have a dedicated committee of 33 women who help to organise these fundraising events and raise awareness for CMRI.”
Ms Brownhill herself very recently toured CMRI’s main research facility in Westmead.
“I was absolutely amazed by the work that they’re doing and the results that they’re achieving – they’re doing fantastic research into childhood cancers, and other childhood diseases like epilepsy, childhood blindness and muscular dystrophy,” said Ms Brownhill.
“I came away from that tour with one thought in my mind – that we have to do more to make sure that CMRI has more funding. They need millions but they’re giving little kids real hope for the future and that’s priceless.”
Tickets for the Long White Lunch are on sale now via Try Booking. Bus tickets for those travelling from Tamworth, Willow Tree, Quirindi, Spring Ridge, Caroona and Pine Ridge can also be booked via the same link.
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