Hobbies, home and handcrafts

In June 2017 Diane Ainsworth was the cover girl of Atwea College’s quarterly magazine. A lover of sewing with a passion for teaching, Diane was a busy lady successfully balancing a job in retail with teaching part time at Atwea College.

In January 2018, she and her husband Dennis had just returned from their annual pilgrimage to Parkes for the Elvis Festival, where they had renewed their wedding vows, when she popped in for her regular mammogram.

“Our lives changed in a moment. Within just a few days, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and in for surgery and planning treatments,” Diane said.

Di and Dennis were among the guests at the 2018 Adult Learners Week awards – the same event they had attended the year before when she was named one of the winners.

“It’s been a rough ride but we are confident and fighting with everything I have,” Diane said.

After her surgery she came into contact with the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation and it was then she decided to support those who had supported her. Together with friends, she held a number of events raising around $4,000. She then embarked on a project using her sewing skills to make luggage and handbag ornaments with proceeds to the local charity.