Dive For Cancer bigger than ever – Magazine Article

There’s something you notice about Mark Tozer soon after meeting him – he doesn’t stay still for long.  So upon receiving the devastating news that his father then sister has terminal cancer, Mark didn’t sit and dwell on the news.  Instead, he gathered together friends, colleagues and fellow members of the local diving community and staged a world-first event that would honour the brave battles of all individuals and families dealing with the disease, one that would create awareness and raise much needed funds to fight cancer.

And so Dive For Cancer was born.

Since launching in 2014, the event has grown impressively with Dive for Cancer 2016 taking place on Sunday February 21st.

In perfect conditions, 130 divers hit the water.  Although much of the fun and camaraderie happens on dry land.

Sunday’s event, MC’d by Paul Curran, featured a variety of guest speakers as always.  Dr Richard Harris talked about Extreme Cave Diving.  Dr Bruce Wauchope spoke about diving and skin cancer.  SA legend Rodney Fox had the crowd in stitches with his stories, as did Tozer himself.

There were auctions too, with 67 items up for bid in the silent auction and 4 more in the live auction.  More than $20,000 was raised on the day, bringing the total of funds raised for the Cancer Council of South Australia to more than $47,000 since the event launched in 2014.

Of course, a day of this magnitude simply doesn’t happen without the help of some hard-working and generous volunteers – so the organisers would like to thank Shelley and Harrison Tozer, Laura and Grant Tregloan, Grace Fitzgerald, Katie Seal, David Raymond, Paul Wooley and Mathilde Graciet.

Planning for Dive For Cancer 2017 is already underway, so if you’d like to follow the progress or find out more, visit the Follow the Dive for Cancer website or hop on the Facebook page.

And if you live in VIC, NSW, WA, QLD or, TAS and you want to make a noise about making this an annual event in your state, talk to the team at Dive For Cancer SA.

Come on… let’s dive in and change lives together!

Dive for Cancer – a great event for an important cause.