Meet the Leeton walking team raising funds
A well-earned coffee after the morning walk.
Every Monday and Friday morning throughout August, you’ll be able to spot this team of walkers hard at work raising money for Leeton Can Assist.
The team is walking for the local charity as part of a wider push in August across Can Assist, and encouraging others to get on board.
The month-long effort is called the ‘Can Do the Distance’ challenge and each Can Assist branch is taking on the challenge in a different way; walking, swimming, or running to draw attention to the struggles of accessing healthcare in the regions and raising money.
Organiser Sandra Watson said that it was a big effort, but was pleased with how it was going so far.
“We’re all doing something in August to help raise money. At the Leeton branch, we’re walking every Monday and Friday for about half an hour and then we go get a coffee,” she said.
“We’re trying to get sponsors, trying to drum up a bit of interest. It’s the third year we’ve done it.”
The group is trying to break $1000 with the fundraiser, but anything is appreciated.
She said that while things were currently going well for the group, she was concerned that things could get out of hand quickly.
“We live in a very generous town, we’ve had a lot of donations and we continue to get them but unfortunately, we still have plenty of people that we can give the money to,” she said.
“There’s no cancer treatment in Leeton, everybody has to go out of town for treatment. If there’s more involved treatment needed, you need to go to Sydney and we’ll have more demand for funds as that becomes standard practice.”
While Ms Watson is walking regularly, others are more on a ‘rotating’ basis.
“It depends on who is available – but we usually get nine or 10 on average,” she said.
“You can just turn up and come for a walk. Anybody can come – I’ve registered us as doing it with the Can Assist head office … Some who can’t walk are meeting us for a coffee as well.”
The group sets off every Monday and Friday at 10.00am from the Leeton Skate Park.
Interested supporters can donate online by going to candothedistance.org.au and selecting Leeton Can Assist, which will ensure the money stays in Leeton.
August 13 2025
irrigator.com.au
