WORDS ANNIE STUDHOLME, IMAGES BY ANNIE STUDHOLME & SUPPLIED
Early next year, seasoned shearers from around the country will again take to the board at the Ewing family’s Hindsridge Farm for a charity shearing event in remembrance of old mates lost to cancer.
A charity event like no other, Shear for Life will see World Champions, All Black legends, local identities, and shearers over the age of 50 work their way through 3,000 crossbred sheep over an eight-hour period to raise funds for cancer.
“Though the primary focus at next year’s event is to raise money for the Ashburton Cancer Society and Hospice Mid Canterbury. The event is also about having a great day out, bringing the community together, catching up with old friends and remembering those who have passed, while raising awareness about the importance of early detection,” says committee member and local shearer Rocky Bull.
Borne over a couple of beers, the first Shear for Life was held in 2019, raising more than $90,000 for cancer. “The idea came about while I was sitting on a mate’s deck in Australia with some other shearing mates talking about a friend who died of prostate cancer and a friend’s wife with terminal breast cancer. It was about getting some older friends together, having fun, doing a few days shearing and giving the money to charity. But things quickly escalated from there. It just grew.”
Once Dick Ewing of Hindsridge Farm got wind of it, things went into overdrive, quickly growing too big for us blokes to handle on our own, says Rocky.
Before long, a committee had been formed, with everyone only too willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved. Rocky enlisted Sandra Curd, long-time former Ashburton A&P Show Secretary and former President, to fill the role of Event Coordinator.
Right from the beginning, Dick had big ideas, adding another two stands to their shearing shed to make it a nine-stand shed so it would work. He also procured 3,000 similar lambs, so the shearers were shearing the same lambs.
Held at the Ewing’s woolshed, the inaugural Shear for Life charity event attracted an impressive line-up of 60 male shearers over 50 years and 10 female shearers, shearing for 20-minute stints before moving on to the next shift.
Among those involved were shearing greats Sir David Fagan, “Dixy” Lynch, Tom Wilson, Darin Forde, Dion Morrell, Marg Baynes, Jules Burney and All Black legends Sir Brian Lochore, Andy Earl, Tane Norton, Billy Bush and Mid Canterbury’s Jock Ross, plus octogenarian Ken Pike. Fellow All Black Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford was also on-site as an ambassador for Prostate Cancer NZ.
Despite wet weather late in the day, a continuous stream of people at the event soaked up the shearing action, either live or on the big screen televisions throughout the marquee. The level of support for the event from those involved, from the shearers who took part to the sponsorship, from businesses and individuals and the people in the community and further afield, blew the organisers away. They’d initially hoped to raise $30,000 shared between Prostrate NZ, breast cancer organisations and Ashburton Cancer Support, but in the end raised more than $90,000, far exceeding expectations.
While the organisers thought the first Shear for Life would be a one-off event, with more close friends dying they thought the timing was right to run a second event. “Dick had always said we should do it in another five years. Sadly, he’s not here to see it. We lost him less than 12 months after the last event, and Sandra [Curd] lost her husband, Rupert. We have lost a lot of very special people. The sad thing is that everybody is affected by cancer in one way or another.”
Rocky says before they got the ball rolling last year (2023) they contacted Dick Ewing’s wife, Suzanne, about the possibility of rerunning the event. She extended her full support, again offering the farm as a venue.
Plans are well underway for the February 1st event, with shearers from around the country again jumping at the opportunity to be on board. Shearing legend Sir David Fagan is set to come, as are a host of former All Blacks, including Andy Earl, Alex “Grizz” Wyllie, Billy Bush, and Richard Loe. The organisers are hoping for an even stronger female turnout this time, aiming to fill all nine stands with former and current women’s world record holders for one 20-minute slot, he says.
The event kicks off at 8am at Hindsridge Farm with the entry of a gold coin. At the conclusion of the shearing (4pm), several items will go up for auction, including signed rugby jerseys and a hunting trip to Elephant Hill. “We have been really humbled by the support we have received. We have had some great items donated. There will be a wide variety of items to suit everybody’s budgets, from high-end to those smaller items,” says Sandra.
To keep the children entertained, they have also introduced a family area that will be open from 11 am to 3 pm with a bouncy castle, train rides, paint-the-sheep, and teddy bear shearing competitions. Food, ice cream and coffee will be available for purchase on-site. Background music will be provided by teenage country singer Molly Morrison and other live entertainment will take place throughout the day.
New for this year is the added health focus. TV presenter turned sheep and beef farmer and Rural Support Trust ambassador Matt Chisholm will attend to talk about mental health and resilience, while FMG will also be running their melanoma spot checks in association with Melanoma NZ.
The Carr Family Foundation’s purpose-built health check-up van is also coming, so people can drop in and have a free health check with medical professionals on the day. It works alongside Whatever with Wiggy’s Lean on a Gate, a movement aimed at urging people to stay connected and raising mental health awareness.
“We’re really excited,” says Sandra. “Everything is coming together for what is shaping up to be an incredible, unique event. I don’t think there is anything like this in New Zealand. It will be a great, affordable day out for the entire family.” A big shout goes out to the Ewing family for the venue and FMG and Ruralco for the marquee sponsorship. “We couldn’t do it without them.”
Ruralco chief executive Tony Aitken says it was a “no-brainer” for the co-operative to get behind such a fantastic event. “We are very excited to be involved. It’s such a worthy cause. It’s something that sadly affects everybody, and the more we can do to raise awareness and funds to support ongoing research and treatment, the better. Doing things to look after our farmers is important to us. Raising awareness through events like this helps people to talk about it, and by doing that, if we can save a couple of lives, what a huge achievement that would be.”
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