For Ray White Helensburgh managing director Simon Beaufils, the devastation of brain cancer became terrifyingly real as he saw his good mate, channel Nine NRL boss Matt Calandar suffer with the disease.
“Matt was a really good friend of mine,” said Mr Beaufils this week, who describes watching his friend pass away in 2017 as seeing the ‘coal face’ of the illness.
It is with this personal background that Mr Beaufils and his team of 13 at Ray White Helensburgh have made the Beanie for Brain Cancer appeal a major event on their calendar each year.
“This is the big week,” said Mr Beaufils, referring to the NRL Round 19 (25-29 July), the Beanie weekend – where fans are encouraged to wear an official Mark Hughes Foundation Beanie for Brain Cancer to the game. In fact Mr Beaufils’ wife will be at three games in two states selling beanies at football venues this week, such is their commitment to the cause.
People in the Helensburgh region can buy theirs from Ray White’s office – and even those looking to get stock to sell at their school, cafe or office can access stock from the office.
“We’re just a small part of it,” said Mr Beaufils, but his team knows each and every beanie that’s sold makes a difference in the vital work of brain cancer research, a cancer which has remained devastatingly aggressive.
