While the latest instalment of the annual Bender-Rushworth Walk for Cancer has been cancelled due to family circumstances, organisers say they will be back bigger and better than ever for the 2019 fundraising walk.

For the past decade, hundreds of people have gathered annual fundraiser that involves a healthy, 11 kilometre walk between Portland and Wallerawang.

Last year, the tenth anniversary of the event, saw over 700 people walk, jog and ride their way between the two villages, to help raise funds for the Cancer Council.

Organiser Pam Bender took to social media to say that she, along with fellow organisers John Kearns and Barry Rushworth, thanked everyone for their support and for the amazing effort from such a small community to have raised $374,018 over the past ten years.

Ms Bender, daughter in-law of the late Laurie Bender, said that while the promotion of cancer prevention was a priority for her, the walk was about more than just raising money for the Cancer Council and also helped getting people walking and socialising.

Many sponsors, organisations and individuals have made and continue to make significant contributions to the event which has become something of a fundraising sensation across the Central West.

The original walk began as a bet between close mates Barry Rushworth and Laurie Bender, who has since passed away. The walk’s co-founder Barry Rushworth said the first walk grew from 25 people to the massive community event and fundraiser that it is today. 

"Laurie Bender and myself, we were talking one day, and he was bit of a bookie, he said ‘I bet you I can walk from Portland to Wallerawang faster than you, and it all went from there,” he said.

While helping to raise funds for the Cancer Council, the event also serves as a good educator about cancer and the effects it has on individuals and the wider community. One in two Australian men and women are diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85, with an estimated 134,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australia each year.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Australia with more than 44,000 people dying from cancer each year.

The most common cancers in Australia (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) are prostate, breast, bowel, melanoma and lung cancer. These five cancers account for around 60% of all cancers diagnosed in Australia.

Cancer Council Australia not only help raise funds and provide assistance to those battling cancer, they also undertake vital research about the disease.

For more information on the Cancer Council, visit https://www.cancer.org.au/.