About 250 people attended the party at the Foundry Hotel Complex on Valentine’s Day in support of the Bendigo Bosom Buddies, a team of 14 Bendigo women who will walk 60 kilometres in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers on the first weekend of March.

Funds from the walk go to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to find cures for women’s cancers.

Bendigo Bosom Buddies team member Louise McNair said Friday’s cocktail party was a fantastic night that exceeded expectations.

“Everyone was raving about it,” she said.

The night celebrated the 14 team members’ fundraising achievements so far and raised about $3000 more.

Every team member had to commit to reach a $2000 personal target in their fundraising.

“We have raised over and above that so the party was about a celebration and thanking our sponsors,” Mrs McNair said.

Bosom Buddies has overtaken its initial target of $30,000 and raised close to $40,000. 

Mrs McNair said Bendigo’s business sector had given great support.

“We have 33 major sponsors (donations of $500+) and that’s where the bulk of the funding has come from,” Mrs McNair said.

“We have had amazing support from the corporate world in Bendigo.”

The team was now intent on getting their bodies ready for the walk, she said.

The walk will cover 60 kilometres over two days through Melbourne's suburbs, starting from Hawthorn's Fritsch Holzer Reserve.

The Bosom Buddies had been walking and training and would now step it up.

“Between us we’re all married with lots of children, and with 14 of us we can’t all get to a training session, so we all train when we can.”

She said some had not known each other before the event. A small group got together and others joined later after seeing it on the internet.

“We’ve made some awesome friendships out of it,” Mrs McNair said. “That has been amazing.

“And you got to know people better than you thought you did.”

She said they were taking part in the walk because “everyone knows someone with cancer”.

“I also work for the Otis Foundation so I book retreats for ladies with breast cancer.

“So every day I am talking to people with breast cancer….in a perfect world I wouldn’t have to do this job.

“Everyone is touched by cancer and that is what has prompted us to put our time into this, into something worthwhile.”