Charlies Angels
Are hosting a
Ladies Dinner
Friday 26th May 2006
$55.00 per head
Raffle and Auction
To raise funds for the Redding family
All supporters and sponsors for this event will be well recognized: a signage board and acknowledgements throughout the evening plus advertising through the Pakenham Gazette and Ron Lock of 3GG
To pledge your support contact Robyn on
5629 2970

Charlie Angus Redding

Charlie is a gentle, loving 2-year old boy with cancer. He was diagnosed on Friday 13th January 2006 with Hepatoblastoma (hep-a-toe-blas-toma), a very rare cancerous tumor that originates in the liver.

The primary functions of the liver include filtering and storing blood. The liver consists of right and left lobes and most hepatoblastoma tumors originate in the right lobe. The disease primary affects children from infancy to about 5 years of age, most cases appear during the first 18 months of life. Hepatoblastoma cancer cells can spread (metastasize) to other areas of the body, most commonly the lungs, abdomen and abdominal structures.

Charlie visited the Royal Children’s Hospital many times over a 2 week period, with a couple of overnight stays where he endured many blood tests, and ultrasound and a chest X-ray. A biopsy and 2 CT scans under general anesthetic confirmed the large mass in the right lobe of his liver was a hepatoblastoma, which fortunately had not spread. The prognosis from the oncologist is for Charlie to receive a series of chemotherapy treatments to shrink the tumor, a long and difficult surgery to remove the tumor and then follow up with more chemotherapy, giving him a good chance of survival but without any guarantees the treatment will actually be successful.

Charlie’s parents, Paul and Ally Redding, were already facing challenges with their 5 year old autistic son, Max, starting mainstream school this year and also preparing their 8 year old daughter, Lucy, for her return to school. Paul works as a sub-contractor and had finished prior to Christmas for the usual 3-week break; he became seriously ill for two weeks needing hospitalization at the time of Charlie’s diagnosis.

The Redding family live in Garfield, a small town approximately 90km from the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne where Charlie is being treated. Charlie is required to stay in hospital for 4 days every two weeks to receive treatment where the parent/s are expected to be the care provider 24/7. Due to the care requirements for Charlie, both in and out of the hospital as well as caring for Lucy and Max, Paul and Ally are sharing the full time role as carers for all 3 children and inevitably are experiencing financial hardship.

Although the Redding family has only been a part of the Garfield community for little over 6 years, they have contributed in a major way to the Garfield Kindergarten, Garfield Netball Club, Garfield Township Committee, Garfield Primary School, Garfield Cricket Club and staunchly support all local businesses and community fundraising events. Ally runs an email support group called ‘Alphabet Kids’ for other parents with kids labeled ASD ADD/ADHD and other ‘behavioral’ disorders and is a keen spokesperson on the subject of children’s welfare. The Redding family care about the environment and people, they like to help others and now they find themselves in the very humbling position of requiring the assistance of others.

Charlie’s Angels fundraising team
Robyn Conway
5629 2970