In its 16th year, the fleeces donated by participants of the Australian Fleece Competition have raised more than $11,000 for Diabetes Australia.
Each year, woolgrowers who are entering fleeces for the competition can chose to donate them to be auctioned off and the money they command given to a nominated charity.
The competition convener Athol Frederick, Landmark Bendigo senior wool account manager, said the competition had grown from about 180 in 2001 to between 450 to 500 in the past few years.
The Australian Fleece Competition is now the largest fully measured fleece competition in the world and is run by Landmark, Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) and the Australian Sheep Breeders’ Association (ASBA).
This year, 481 fleeces were entered into the competition and Mr Frederick said 67 per cent of them were donated to charity, including this year’s grand champion fleece that was won for the first time by commercial woolgrowers – Paul and Margy Seaman, Rosemont, Crookwell, NSW.
“Diabetes Australia was nominated by the Kennedy family, Maple Park, Corop,” Mr Frederick said.
The competition’s committee then considers the submission and chooses a national charity which they have not supported before, and that benefits rural communities.
Diabetes Australia’s media and communications co-ordinator Angela Mallon said the organisation welcomed the support and it was terrific that the fleece competition was awarded during National Diabetes Week, at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show, Bendigo.
Ms Mallon said diabetes was one of the fastest growing chronic conditions and it affected people in all parts of Australia, including rural communities, and of all ages.
“Diabetes Australia supprots people with diabetes and their families, because it can affect all aspects of people’s lives.”
She said Diabetes Australia also worked to raise awareness of diabetes, “pre-diabetes” and conditions that put people at risk of developing the disease.
“We encourage people to contact their health care provider and talk with about their risk factors because the sooner people know the risks and act on them, the better the outcome will be.”
She said 280 Australians develop diabetes every day and the organisation estimates around 1.7 million Australians have diabetes.
The $11,000 raised yesterday from the sale of 11 bales of donated fleeces brings the running total to more than $127,000 donated to national charities.
Mr Frederick said all the bales sold in excess of where they had valued them at and these was good support from wool buyers.
