Fay Hamilton (Henderson) Aka fayzy

At a Cancer Council Fay Rollings (from Currumbin Dragons) spoke of Dragon Boating for breast cancer survivors. I was at that meeting and I put my hand up to take responsibility for recruiting members to join as a breast cancer team to come under the umbrella of Currumbin Dragon Boat as our mother club. The Year was late 2001.
I went about getting  members on board.I was the first official member followed by Wendy Hall, Carol Mennie,  Suzie Clackety and Lorrie Ledwell.
We were known as Dragons Abreast Currumbin with a team name of Beyond Survival.
We did our own fundraising within Currumbin Dragon Boat Club.
I recruited breast cancer survivors over a period of time to join us. The original members were myself, Fay Hamilton (Henderson) Carol Mennie, Wendy Hall, Susan Clackett and Lozza (Lorrie) Ledwell.
Lozza and myself started canvassing for sponsorship and  Hogs Breath cafe came on board. Hogs Breath Cafe donated $2500 to go towards buying the breast cancer survivors their own boat. Hogs Breath cafe also donated the money for our very first uniform. Our small group set about fundraising for the extra money needed to purchase our boat and a tent.
We held BBQ’s, head shaves, Rock n roll nights, barefoot bowls, tenpin bowling,  biscuit drives, chocolate drives, garage sales, raffles, cake stalls, high teas - anyway we could to raise funds. Walks on the beach carrying a home-made full-size type of Dragon Boat was one of the highlights of spreading awareness.
Our group continued to grow slowly but surely.
DAGC joined DAA (Dragons Abreast Australia) in 2004.
While still training under the umbrella of the Currumbin Dragon Boat Club in 2006 we had a full team of survivors. We also had a healthy number of supporters.
We decided to enter in the world club crew championships in Singapore and entered as Dragon Abreast Gold Coast.
I was our breast-cancer president and Lorraine Montgomery was our coach. We came home from the world championships after winning six crystal trophies, four gold trophies, four gold medals and two silver medals. After arriving back to the Gold Coast, Dragon Abreast Gold Coast registered as a stand alone club.
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