Val’s link to COUCH the driving force behind Dawsons’ $30,000 donation
September 1, 2025
Val Dawson is a straight shooter – what you see is what you get.
She doesn’t talk for talking’s sake and shuns attention.
So, when she does say something, you listen.
It’s refreshing in an age of communication that glorifies the number of emails clogging your inbox or how many views you’ve notched up on social media.
It’s also perhaps why she and boilermaker-by-trade husband, Keith – both born and bred in Cairns – were able to grow their iconic labour hire and engineering and fabrication business into the behemoth it is today.
New venture grows from mining contacts
Dawsons Engineering was established in 1987 and is now one of Queensland’s largest privately held multi-disciplinary industrial service companies with a presence from Northern Australia to the southern states.
A request from a local customer who worked at the Kidston Gold Mine during their days owning the Redlynch store across from the Red Beret Hotel would mark the beginning of a new era.
“He asked one day about sending Keith out to Kidston, so he went and they asked him if he had any mates,” Val said.
“So that’s how Dawsons started. It was purely from him going out there and then these blokes wanting more tradies. They saw the opportunity.
“After we sold the shop, I actually worked at Medicare for a while and used to have my mobile phone with me as I organised labour hire while I was at Medicare.”
Employee numbers now run into thousands of men and women – and one aging, slightly overweight, canine called Sheryl, a staffy which wanders the floors of their Cairns headquarters at Aeroglen happy to be paid in pats and treats.
At the top sits CEO Sharon, the Dawsons’ daughter – smart, down to earth and community minded.
These strong women are as comfortable walking around their giant industrial shed with its steel, welding stations and trucks as they are the halls of business.
They know how to fight hard for what’s important.
Diagnosis has devastating impact
It’s little wonder then that when the doctor told Val Dawson she had breast cancer she argued with him. “I said, ‘No I haven’t’. We’ve got Alzheimer’s, we’ve got motor neurone disease – you know, some shitty diseases in our family – but not one bit of cancer anywhere. So, yeah, I argued,” Val said.
“I just didn’t believe it.
The disbelief lingered. The youngest of seven children, Val struggled to reconcile how she could have cancer when siblings had suffered dementia.
But once the cancer ride starts, the only thing you can do, is buckle up.
“You’re going to specialists, having the operation, going to chemo. It was just all full-on.”
Cancer’s cruelty is that it can infect mind, body and spirit.
Val punished herself thinking she had brought this upon herself because she had once declared she would gladly take cancer “any day” over Alzheimer’s after what it had done to her loved ones.
It’s an all-too common tortuous reaction as humans grapple with such a lifechanging event.
A silver lining appeared after one of Sharon’s friends suggested she reach out to COUCH – Cairns Organisation United for Cancer Health – to access cancer care services it offers at its hub, off Reservoir Rd, Manoora.
“The best part of the whole cancer experience has been COUCH,” Val said.
“To find COUCH and like-minded souls has been wonderful.”
How services turned the tide
COUCH Cancer Hub NQ offers evidence-based wraparound services to help those affected by the disease. As well as a GP, clients can access oncology and lymphoedema massage, physiotherapy, exercise physiology, yoga, pilates, meditation and nutrition, art and music therapy classes.
As well as a supervised, modern gym there is an on-site café where visitors can, not only enjoy great coffee and food, but social connection. It’s the secret sauce that makes the hub such a haven.
Being able to talk to others who are experiencing similar difficulties and attend meditation has been a lifeline for Val who admits turning down the volume in her mind has been hard.
“I really do enjoy meditation. My brain churns; it always has. It’s just overflowing.
“Doing meditation with people who are on the same journey is a nice thing to do. And I really enjoy the gym also.”
As Val starts to see cancer in the rearview mirrors of one of her trucks and continues her journey down life’s highway, she can look forward knowing her family, lifelong friends made in the Far North and her COUCH community will always be travelling along with her.
Family business powers care with cash
A personal insight to how the COUCH Cancer Hub NQ is helping people through cancer has led to a major donation from powerhouse engineering and labour hire company Dawsons Engineering.
The matriarch of this Cairns success story, Val Dawson, who alongside husband, Keith, built the business into what it is today, has opened up about her own cancer journey in light of the $30,000 donation.
“COUCH does a fantastic job and there should be more recognition,” Mrs Dawson said.
“The COUCH model is something that should be in other cities.”
Daughter and company CEO Sharon Dawson said the hub provided an invaluable service for her mother and that their business wanted to help ensure that it was available to anyone who needed it.
“When people are diagnosed with cancer, they really don’t understand how gruelling it can be,” Sharon Dawson said
“So, I think that to have the variety of support that’s available at COUCH is crucial.”
Ms Dawson encouraged other businesses to consider partnering with COUCH.
“It’s important for us to support our employees and the community in which they live, which we do through local junior sports, animal welfare, community organisations and other care fundraisers. As well as Cairns, we have workshops in Townsville and Mt Isa.
“Businesses need to look at what happens when we don’t support organisations who need help and get on board. Healthy communities support happy employees.”
Find out how you can support COUCH and those affected by cancer in your community at: https://couch.org.au/charity/corporate-recognition.