While most of us took a break over Christmas, the wonderful husband and wife team, Finlay and Ronnie Alexander spent their Christmas refurbishing our Crawford and Milroy Lodge gym facilities.
Finlay and Ronnie very generously donated brand-new commercial gym equipment from their business, EliteGymHire, along with an ongoing commitment to regularly service the equipment.
Although the instalment was a tough few days in 40-degree heat for Finlay and Ronnie, their efforts are hugely appreciated by all Cancer Council WA staff, volunteers, and in particular, our Lodge guests. The gym upgrades will make such a positive impact on the wellbeing and health of regional cancer patients and their carers during their stay at our lodges, while accessing treatment.
"It's truly heart-warming to receive new gym equipment at both our Lodges as this will result in an increased uptake of our exercise program which is proven to be very beneficial to our guests' overall wellbeing", says our Accommodation Services Manager, Ron ten Hoor.
We cannot thank Finlay and Ronnie enough for their incredibly generous and thoughtful donation and their commitment to ensuring cancer patients and their carers have access to exercise equipment throughout their treatment journey.
The gym facilities are available to all lodge guests throughout their stay. Under normal circumstances, when Covid is not a concern, an exercise physiologist visits our lodge gyms every Thursday, assisting lodge guests with using the equipment, and offering to write individual exercise programs to suit the individuals' needs based on their diagnosis and treatment. This ensures that lodge guests are training in a way that is best suited to their individual situation. This service will re-commence as soon as it is safe to do so.
Making exercise accessible to cancer patients is a priority for us as there are many known physical and mental benefits that come from remaining physically active. Some of these general benefits include better circulation, stronger muscles and bones, increased energy, improvement of mobility and balance, and an increased ability to cope with stress, anxiety, and depression.
One perhaps less known benefit of exercise is that it can reduce the risk of cancer, and help manage many other health conditions.
Exercise after a cancer diagnosis can be useful in managing some of the common side effects of treatment, such as fatigue, anaemia, mood, heart problems, lymphoedema, and much more!
Exercise can also help speed up recovery and improve quality of life. Exercise has also been found to enhance one's response to cancer treatment and even reduce the recurrence of certain cancers.
In saying this, it is always important to tailor your exercise to suit your body, as well as the type and stage of cancer and any side effects that come with it. Some side effects require you to be extra cautious, so it is important you speak to your doctor, physiotherapist, or exercise physiologist for help with this.
Once again, we are so grateful for the immense generosity of Finlay and Ronnie Alexander, in helping us to improve the experience of Milroy and Crawford Lodge guests during their stay.
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