LBF 30th anniversary

Governor General and guests gather to mark historic milestone

There were plenty of smiles and a few tears too as the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation (LBF) celebrated its 30th anniversary on Thursday 15 November, 2007.

Guests gathered at the charity’s head office in Claude Road, Epsom, to reminisce about the last three decades and hear a touching speech by special guest, His Excellency Anand Satyanand, Governor-General of New Zealand.

His Excellency also presided over the official opening of the Claude Road building, which the LBF purchased earlier this year.

The Governor-General and the LBF Board of Trustees were in high spirits.

Patients, volunteers, sponsors and business associates had joined staff and trustees to hear His Excellency talk. He touched on the valuable work done by the foundation, and how 6 New Zealanders are diagnosed with these insidious diseases each day.

He also paid tribute to his friend, LBF trustee John Wigglesworth, who is the only founding trustee still sitting on the board. Mr Wigglesworth, who is a retired senior partner of chartered accountants firm Porter Wigglesworth and Grayburn, was handed a special commemorative plaque by His Excellency as guests cheered and applauded.

The LBF began as The Blood Foundation back in 1977 and its purpose was to fund research in transfusion medicine. In recent years, this has been increasingly matched by the demand for patient support.

“The Leukaemia & Blood Foundation of today is a very different organisation from when it first started out, but is still focused entirely on a future free of these devastating cancers,” says Executive Director of the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation, Pru Etcheverry.

“We are always being challenged to grow quickly to meet the upsurge in demand for our services,” she adds.