Bingo to make difference

The Rockingham community is set to rally around a deserving family with a bogan bingo night at the City of Rockingham RSL early next month.

The evening will be a special fundraiser for Safety Bay 10-year-old Lachlan Wright, who suffers from a rare condition known as 2q23.1 micro deletion syndrome.

With Lachlan’s condition encompassing severe lifelong refractory epilepsy, intellectual disability and autism, the funds from the walk are set to be put towards helping the Wright family purchase an assistance dog, which will cost $40,000.

It is not the first time the community has rallied around Lachlan and his family, with bingo organiser Jo-Anne Cooke previously pounding the pavement across Rockingham last November.

Mrs Cooke walked 80km in two days in a bid to raise as much money as possible for the 10-year- old. Earlier in the year, Rockingham Rams AFL masters travelled to Gingin for the fourth annual Michael Gunton Charity match, with money raised from the game also donated to the cause.

Lachlan’s mother Elisha said the continued support from the community had been overwhelming.

“We’re really thankful to the Rockingham community, they’ve done an amazing job and hopefully they’ll continue to support Lochie,” she said.

Mrs Wright said an assistance dog would be trained to monitor Lachlan’s condition, giving him the chance to have more time to himself.

“At the moment, because of the way his seizures are, they are quite unstable at the moment, we have to be with him and monitor him 24/7,” Mrs Wright said.

“He has very limited time to himself; primarily it’s about giving him some more independence and quality of life.”

Doors open to the bogan bingo event at the City of Rockingham RSL at 6pm on March 10, with eyes down at 7pm.