Alexandra District Club (ADC) bowling club is holding a fundraising tournament for local preschooler Isabel Gillaly (2) and her family this Sunday.

Club president and captain Geoff Moore said every year the club holds a fundraiser that usually nets about $3000 for a local cause.

This year they heard about the case of Isabel Gillaly on the radio following a shave for a cure campaign back in December. 

Isabel was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in April last year, a few weeks after her second birthday. 

Since then she has had several procedures, scans, blood transfusions, rounds of chemotherapy and has had to travel for treatment. 

Isabel’s father Sam and a few of his colleagues shaved their heads to support Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBCNZ) to further support Isabel and the search for a cure.

The ADC bowls committee looked into it further and found Isabel’s grandfather Pete Gillaly, was a club member who had been playing bowls for the past couple of years.

After checking in with Pete, the family agreed to the fundraiser and ADC bowls has since been “knocking on the doors of local businesses” for their support. 

Geoff said they were thrilled with the response from the community as many had donated prizes and signed up to play in the tournament.

Due to huge interest and 37 teams already registered, the Clyde Bowing Club will jointly host the tournament. 

Geoff said the club was 'throwing away the rule book’ and anyone could enter to play, even if they were completely new to bowling. 

There’s still time to enter a team, which people can do by contacting Trevor Cowan on 027 466 52 79 by 5pm today (February 1). All proceeds will support Isabel and the Gillaly family.

The tournament kicks off at 12.30pm on Sunday, February 4, with a mufti dress code, and spectators are welcome.   

Raffle prizes to be won include a night's accommodation at Olivers, New World vouchers donated by Fulton Hogan, Masterchef cookware, firewood and Oral B products. 

The prizegiving is from 5pm, and an auction will follow with a top prize of two nights accommodation in Queenstown, in a home overlooking Lake Wakatipu.

Direct donations to the cause can be made via online banking. The account number is 06-0917-0700121-005, please use ‘charity’ as a reference.