The night of Saturday, 5 July saw 150 guests celebrating Christmas in July in the Westpac corporate offices in Kent Street. With a magnificent view over the lights of Darling Harbour and fine catering courtesy of Westpac Corporate Catering, guests opened their hearts to raise over $70,000 for Lifestart. Guests picked up some bargains from the wonderful array of items on offer and MC Vic Lorusso once again demonstrated his top-class auctioneering skills.

So many people contributed to the success of the evening, but special mention must be made of Karen Titterton who headed the organizing committee and the generous major sponsor Hillross Financial Services. Mention must also be made of Jason Kerr, Naomi Jones, Wine Brothers, Enhanced Entertainment, Divine Events, Harasty’s and all the Lifestart mums and dads, relatives, friends and staff who supported the evening.

Picture: l .to r. Theresa Rizk, Peter Rizk, Fiona Phipps, Patrick Haddad, Kate Haddad, Rebecca Betros, Dr. Fred Betros

The annual Lifestart Winter Ball is here again offering a magical night of fine wine, food and entertainment.

The Parents & Friends organizing committee is hard at work putting together a wonderful night. A special feature of the evening will be a computerised silent auction system that displays bidding progress on items on the large screen. Special sponsorship packages are available and donations to the live and silent auctions are still very welcome. If you can assist please contact Sam on ball2008@lifestart.org.au.

For more information go to Events.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again folks! Lifestart Northern Beaches are holding their annual fundraising event to help give our special kids a great start in life!

Treat yourself, friends and business colleagues to 18 holes of golf on the prestigious Monash Golf Course and a gourmet dinner at the picturesque Monash Country Club.

A great day and night for everyone involved. For more information on how you can book for the golf and auction dinner go to Lifestart Events.

Macquarie Group’s Real Estate business has dug deep and come on board as major sponsor of the 2008 KAYAK FOR KIDS event taking place on Sydney Harbour.

And what an event it’s shaping up to be, with hundreds of boats expected to take to the water and paddle from picturesque Manly Cove across our stunning Harbour to Blues Point on Sunday 30^th March.

The event hopes to raise in excess of $100,000 of funding for much needed ongoing therapy sessions for the rapidly increasing numbers of children living with Autism and developmental delays in the Sydney region. Statistics show that the number of children with special needs (such as Autism) to be as high as women with breast cancer, which is why services such as Lifestart are so essential.

Chris Breach, Managing Director, Macquarie Asset Services Limited said, “Having kayaked around Sydney Harbour for some years I was extremely pleased that an activity such as this can assist Lifestart in its fundraising aspirations and delighted that Macquarie Real Estate has been able to sponsor such a deserving organisation.”

Macquarie Real Estate will be proudly represented by a team on the day, and challenges other leading banks and companies in Sydney to join them on this very special event to help our children.

“The Macquarie Group sponsorship is an outstanding start to our fundraising, and really secures our ability to make the event happen,” said Katinga Schroeder Marketing Manager for Lifestart NSW, “Now all we need is more teams registered to participate in the fun,” she added.

Well known Australian sportsman and avid fundraiser Guy Leech will be participating and said “It’s a great course and very popular with paddlers because you can challenge yourself as an elite entrant and have loads of fun as a novice.”

Entry is open to teams or individuals who can do one or all of the stages which takes you from the famous Manly Harbour Beach, under the Harbour Bridge and finishing at Blues Point Reserve for the prize ceremony, where family entertainment and a barbeque will conclude the day.

A GREAT DAY FOR YOU…. A BETTER LIFETIME FOR THE KIDS

Kayak for Kids is supported by the Mosman, Manly and North Sydney Councils and is managed professionally by the AROC Sport team. Fundraising is easy through Everyday Hero.

Visit www.kayakforkids.com.au for entry and event details.