Aussie: The Australian Circus Spectacular’s debut in Bloemfontein over the past weekend was heralded with the announcement of a school’s fundraising effort for children affected by cancer. On Thursday members of the circus and Cansa surprised learners at Curro Bloemfontein with a taste of what can be expected from the circus.
Curro Bloemfontein is one of the schools which is raising funds for Cansa. The class within the school that raises the most money for Cansa’s children’s arm, Cansa TLC (Tough Living with Cancer), will win tickets to see performances of Aussie Circus.
The Australian Circus, which kicked off its world tour in Cape Town in February, has already donated close to 500 tickets (valued at over R100 000) to the Cansa TLC fundraising initiative that began in Gauteng and is now being rolled out nationally.
“We are delighted to have Aussie Circus and schools as partners in this auspicious fundraising initiative,” said Vera van Dalen, National Project Manager for Childhood Cancer Support.
“The funding will go towards a number of projects, which include providing accommodation for families of children undergoing hospital treatment, to actually providing medical assistance to children in need,” she said.
Commenting on the circus’s involvement in the fundraising effort, Aussie’s executive producer, Sebastian Cassie, says Cansa TLC is a cause close to their hearts and they welcome the opportunity to give back to the South African community.
Cassie said the support Aussie Circus has received from the South African public has been heartening, especially given that this is the first time that the circus has performed here.
“We have been overwhelmed by requests from towns and cities throughout the country to come and perform,” he said.
The CANSA TLC fundraiser provides each class within a school with donation tins and the class that raises the highest amount receives complimentary tickets to the circus.
As part of raising awareness of the fundraising campaign and to stimulate enthusiasm, performers at Aussie Circus will be staging presentations at individual schools throughout the campaign.
Aussie Circus will be performing in Bloemfontein until 19 June.
Any school or person who wants to get involved with Cansa can call its office at 051-444-2580. – Maricelle Botha
maricelle@centralmediagroup.co.za