Story and pictures by David Ellery

While Trundle is best known for its Abba Festival, Carolyn Keep, a local business woman and cancer survivor, has spent the last nine years growing a companion event that is on track to have raised well over $200,000 for the Cancer Council by the middle of the decade.
That’s an amazing achievement for what is essentially a one woman show bolstered by a small band of dedicated and enthusiastic local volunteers.
This year’s “Pink Night”, held at the town’s Golf Club, is expected to raise at least $40,000. $35,000 has already been collected and the funds are still rolling in. That will bring the total raised since the event began to almost $190,000.
Ms Keep, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, said the event held on Friday October 18 – which was attended by an estimated 900 people – was the best “Pink Night” yet.
While admission to the event, which has been sponsored by the Trundle Services and Citizens Club since its inception, is free its many supporters come cashed up and ready to spend.
The big money earners are the raffles and the charity auction. This year one family coughed up $5500 for a Queensland luxury resort holiday and a Rugby League tragic bid $500 for a State of Origin jersey signed by Rabbitoh’s great Jack Wighton.
While some of the raffle prizes are also donated most of the 71 items on offer were paid for by a substantial donation from the Trundle Services and Citizen’s Club.
Ms Keep, who said “Pink Night” had developed its own vibe and was now attracting people to the town in its own right, said the supporters were an eclectic group who came from “all over”.
One table of four women from Wollongong had seen a post on social media and thought it would be a fun thing to do.
“Social media has worked really well for us,” Ms Keep said. “Some people are here for Abba, some are here for “Pink Night” and a lot are here for both.
“The bidding support is fantastic. I think that is because cancer, even though it is a terrible disease, is a leveller. Everybody either knows somebody who has had it or has had it themselves. It touches us all”.
Ms Keep is impressed by the progress in diagnosing and treating cancer in the last decade – but says much more needs to be done to ensure women in regional and remote communities are on an equal footing in terms of access to treatment and support as their urban counterparts.
“My cancer was detected because I was eligible for a free mammogram when I turned 50,” she said. “If I hadn’t done that things may have turned out very differently for myself and my family”.
Erin O’Leary, the guest speaker who comes from Peak Hill, highlighted the fact that although the qualifying age for a free mammogram had now been dropped to 40, younger women such as herself were still slipping through the cracks.
Ms O’Leary’s concerns about a lump in her breast were initially dismissed. If she had not sought a second opinion she might not have been diagnosed until it was too late.
Ms Keep, who devotes hundreds of hours to preparing for “Pink Night” every year in addition to working in the family’s hardware store with her husband Gary, said she had been very well supported during her own illness.
“My drive is to make sure all women with cancer get access to the best possible support wherever they live,” she said.
“Women in the regions face unique challenges when cancer or other illness strikes. We have to leave our homes, our families and our local support networks for treatment. And access to specialists is always a challenge.
“We need to do everything we can to bridge that healthcare divide”.