Car Enthusiasts Rev Their Engines for Prostate and Breast Cancer

07 February 2016

Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) and Breast Cancer Care WA will be the lucky recipients of the inaugural Freo Charity Car Cruise through the port city on Valentines Day (14 February 2016).

More than 100 car enthusiasts and members from classic and vintage car clubs in Perth will muster at 11am at the Beach Street car park (near Clancy’s Fish Pub) before cruising to Fremantle’s Cappuccino Strip at high noon (midday).

Local business owners will display collection boxes for PCFA and Breast Cancer Care WA in the weeks leading up to the event, which relives the Fremantle 'bog lap' tradition dating back to the 1960s.

A small army of volunteers will be on hand on the day to invite onlookers to make a gold coin donation for the not-for-profit health organisations.

The driving force behind the Freo Charity Car Cruise is local Freo boy and editor of the city’s new Freo StreetWise magazine, Carmelo Amalfi.  Hoping to raise public awareness of breast and prostate cancer, the award-winning journalist held a successful ‘test run’ event in November 2015 when hundreds of people turned out to photograph and post via social media on the street spectacle.

"Bog laps made the Cappuccino Strip, it was a way of showing off your wheels and cruising through the streets, usually on the weekend," he says, having himself cruised through the CBD in his V8 Holden Monaro.

"This event will be a great way for people to see up close some of the world’s hottest street cars - Stingrays, Shakers, Chevys, GTRs and SLRs, while fundraising for a worthy cause."

Amalfi plans to make the charity cruise an annual event and urged WA car enthusiasts and volunteers to support the event via Freo StreetWise's Facebook site.

Cate Harman, State Manager WA of PCFA says, "we are thrilled to be the recipient of this exciting new event and our volunteers will be on the strip to assist Carmelo and his team to receive donations. Early detection of the disease is the key to saving lives, and events such as this go a long way to raising awareness of prostate cancer".

"Our heartfelt thanks to Carmelo for choosing to support Breast Cancer Care WA," Breast Cancer Care WA brand and communications manager Tia Jarvis says.  "This will make an incredible difference in enabling us to provide vital services and help Western Australians affected by breast cancer."

Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men in Australia, with 20,000 new cases diagnosed nationally each year. In WA, 300 men lose their lives to the disease each year. In Australia, more men die of prostate cancer than women die of breast cancer.

Further details at www.prostate.org.au and www.breastcancer.org.au.