On Friday 4th June, 94 country and city dads got together for the Inaugural Loreto Normanhurst Sportsmen's Lunch at the Union Hotel in North Sydney.

The purpose of the lunch was to build community among the dads of Normo, in addition to raising money for the Bursary program. We were very privileged to have Mark Regan introduce his daughter Tess Regan ('04) via video from the family farm in Coonamble. Tess gave a fantastic speech on how the Bursary enabled her to stay at Normo when times got very tough on the farm during the drought of 2003/04. Tess spoke of her time at Normo and lifelong friendships that she made. There was barely a dry eye in the room at the end of Tess’s amazing speech. We were very grateful and privileged to have Tess on the day.

Charlie Pidcock, our MC for the day, hosted the Q & A Session with former Wallaby John Langford (father of Anna, Year 8) and Simon Gillies (father of Grace, Year 12) Grand final with Canterbury Bulldogs. John and Simon were able to give some great insights into their time as professional sportsmen. We had Rowan Blake from Keith Soames Real Estate auction the major prize which was a 7 hour boat cruise for 10 people donated by Mark and Michelle Rawson (parents to Amelia, Year 8). The auction prize went for $8,000 - we are very grateful to the Rawson family for their amazing generosity.

The day raised over $20,000 for the Bursary, which is an amazing contribution. I would like to thank Paul Timmins, Charlie Pidcock and Liane Giuliano for organising an amazing day. We are looking forward to next year.

Preston Foster

Thank you to all the fathers and friends of Loreto who generously contributed to the Bursary Program during the lunch. A brilliant $20,000 was raised in support of families in necessitous circumstances seeking a Loreto education for their daughters. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to the Bursary, please follow this link.