April 2012
28 posts
13 tags
Immunisation Week - sounds nasty, but really it's...
Australia’s first ever Immunisation Week held from 23 – 29 April 2012 is a great time for parents to consider the vaccination needs of their children, particularly adolescent children.
Victoria currently achieves 92 per cent coverage for free vaccines given to babies and children compared to an estimated 75 per cent for adolescents.
“While Victorian parents are very vigilant about immunisation...
13 tags
$1.3 million towards 'making sick kids better'
The Good Friday Appeal team just sent us this image, and we thought we would share it with you. It captures one of the proudest moments of our year - the annual handover of the Auxiliaries cheque at the Good Friday Appeal.
Congrats to the RCH Auxiliaries, who raised a record amount in 2011/2012, and contributed more than $1.3million towards the 2012 Good Friday Appeal.
This image is Carole...
6 tags
Worst sign a money spinner...
Steve Perkins’ In Black and White column in the Herald Sun published this interesting morsel on 19 Apr 2012. Good on Beechworth for sticking up for themselves! When it comes to charity, sign-writing skills are not the most important issue. And good on Mr Perkins for printing the below slice of humble pie! :)
See the original comment bagging the sign here.
Congrats Beechworth - what a...
13 tags
Silent flashmob makes noise about reading
Yesterday a ‘flashmob’ of staff, parents and patients dropped everything to read for 30 minutes at the RCH to highlight the benefits of reading as an essential life skill.
The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) is a partner in the 2012 National Year of Reading. This year is all about children learning to read and keen readers finding new sources of inspiration. It’s about supporting...
16 tags
2012 Cystic Fibrosis Fun Run a record breaker
The Royal Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust was formed in 2000 by a group of parents in conjunction with Associate Professor Philip Robinson, Director of The Royal Children’s Hospital Respiratory Medicine Department. The group seeks to fund research into cystic fibrosis (CF), a life-threatening genetic disorder that severely affects lung function and digestion.
Research projects are...
13 tags
16 tags
Alisa Camplin presents $20,000 Finnan’s Gift Grant...
Olympic gold medallist Alisa Camplin and her husband Oliver Camplin-Warner presented the inaugural Finnan’s Gift Grant to the Intensive Care (Rosella Ward) nursing team at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) today in memory of their son Finnan.
The grant of $20,000 has been raised through exceptional community generosity following the establishment of Finnan’s Gift in 2011.
Finnan Maximus...
13 tags
An important policy gap: mental health in early...
Mental health in early childhood (from birth to primary school age) deserves far more attention, according to the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Melissa Sweet of Croakey, the forum for discussion about health issues and policy on Crikey, summarised the views of the CCCH well:
Australia has seen significantly increased awareness of mental...
13 tags
Massive March, Awesome April
The past couple of months have been seen some wonderful successes for our fundraising community. We are so proud and grateful. Here are some highlights below.
Did you take part in any of these great events, or know someone who did? Big thanks from us!
‘Angling for a Cure’ Fun Run – for The Royal Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Trust The Royal Children’s Cystic Fibrosis Trust (RCCFT) held...
16 tags
Honouring a friend and making a difference for...
When Simon passed away suddenly in 2007 from a heart condition at just 27, his friends Alicia and Hamish Maclean decided to honour his memory by raising funds for the Cardiology department at The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Alicia and Hamish knew that Simon had spent time at the RCH as a child, so on the 1st anniversary of Simon’s death in 2008 they held the first Making A Difference...
13 tags
Beyond Sight swimathon; 696 kilometres, 20 hours...
Beyond Sight are an Auxiliary that raise funds to help find a cure for retinoblastoma, a condition that effects one in 14,000 children. They recently held a Swimathon, where members of Hoppers Crossing Swimming Club covered over 696 kms over 24 hours to raise funds.
A massive effort from all the young people involved – most of the participants were kids from the swimming club. We are sure...
17 tags
Youth Homelessness Matters Day - April 18
On any night in Australia 105,000 people are homeless and nearly half of these are under the age of 25.
April 18 is Youth Homelessness Matters Day, raising awareness of the thousands of youths in Australia who live without permanent or sufficient accommodation.
Youth Homelessness Matters Day aims to raise awareness and support for this national problem, while celebrating the resilience of...
3 tags
$15,820,640.78 Good Friday Appeal eclipses last...
This year Victorians dug deep to support the Good Friday Appeal like never before, raising an unbelievable $15.8 million, eclipsing last years record of $15.1 million.
Since the Appeal began over 80 years ago it has received $240 million in donations from the Victorian community all of which supports The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Donors from all over the state rattled tins, held...
13 tags
Brave, brave, brave. 2 yr old Mac's Mum finds him...
Brave little Mac Darby is just one of the tens of thousands of children that the Royal Children’s Hospital helps each year.
Mac, 2, who is never short of a cheeky grin, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last February, becoming a regular visitor to the hospital.
Mac, 2, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in February last year after an ultrasound found a 6.5cm long tumour in his adrenal gland.
...
13 tags
New Royal Children's Hospital sets new benchmarks...
THE new Royal Children’s Hospital has won the prestigious honour of Australia’s infrastructure project of the year.
The Herald Sun reports: The 2012 National Infrastructure Award recognised the $1 billion hospital as a showcase for the nation when it came to its procurement, design and construction.
”This is a very proud moment for the Royal Children’s Hospital and for...
13 tags
Nothing can prepare you for seeing your baby...
Daniel Castley and Katharina Ebert were confronted with that scenario when their only child, William, needed surgery two weeks before his first birthday to reshape his skull and relieve pressure on his brain which had the potential to impair his growth.
“It hadn’t affected his development just yet but it would have caused slow speech, speech impediments and his ability to problem-solve would...
13 tags
A mother and daughter's bond of love
Five-week-old Amelia Piper has the same devastating bone condition that crippled her mother before a remarkable recovery.
Jodie and her four-week-old daughter Amelia both have Larsen syndrome. Picture: Ben Swinnerton Herald Sun
Mother and daughter have Larsen’s syndrome, a rare inherited condition where joints are loose and unstable, causing dislocations and other problems.
...
13 tags
Teenage health issues 'hidden from GPs'
Health professionals are often failing to recognise complex health issues such as depression, obesity and smoking in teenagers, an adolescent health expert says.
Young people commonly visit their GP with respiratory illnesses including asthma, colds and viruses but neglect to mention underlying health issues, which they may not regard as problems, a University of Melbourne academic says.
...
16 tags
Multiple organ transplant gives Mohamed a second...
At just 13 years old Mohamed El Shazly has become the first child to receive an intestinal transplant in a complex 10 hour surgery at The Royal Children’s Hospital.
Mohamed was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, which caused his intestines to fail when he was very young. He has been fed for over 8 years by an intravenous line while he waited for donor organs to be available.
The head...
13 tags
Good Friday Appeal :: Lucky Lilly
Little Lilly Chugg is lucky to be alive after a one-in-a-million condition caused her kidney failure and subsequent heart failure.
Within hours of seeing her GP with shortness of breath last month, the four-year-old Launceston girl was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where she fought for her life.
Another day without seeing a doctor would have been fatal.
But Lilly...
13 tags
Good Friday Appeal :: Little indestructibles
We love this article in the Sunday Herald Sun by Brigid O’Connell.
***
It’s as much a psychological and emotional injury as a physical one.
But the Royal Children’s Hospital Limb Deficiency Clinic has seen time after time that children who lose a leg, arm, hand or foot to injury or illness remarkably gain a go-getter spirit like they never had before.
It can be a...
13 tags
Good Friday Appeal :: Baby Alice's miracle smile
Like many curious babies, Alice Green giggles when she sees herself in the mirror. But unlike most children, her reflection has been transformed.
The Aspendale Gardens six-month-old is one of one in every 600 Australian children born with a cleft lip and/or palate.
Thanks to recent surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital, her congenital condition is now a thing of the past. A cleft occurs when...
13 tags
Herald Sun/CityLink Run for the Kids
Runners, joggers and walkers in yesterday’s Herald Sun/CityLink Run for the Kids helped raise a record $1.65 million for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
Prams, wheelchairs and scooters joined 33,000 runners in the seventh annual run which has raised more than $6.7 million for the hospital since it began.
World cross-country champion Martin Dent was the...
Colour us happy
The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne has taken out the grand prix title in the 2012 Dulux colour awards for its innovative use of colour in architecture and design.
The hospital, designed by Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart, also won the commercial interior category. The judges said the project showed the possibilities of using colour as a key design element.
The judging...
13 tags
American Women’s Auxiliary to the Royal Children’s...
For more than 80 years, the American Women’s Auxiliary have been working to make their motto come to fruition - “Making a difference in the lives of others”. Their AWA Golf event has been going strong for 17 years to help them reach their fundraising targets. Their latest Golf event was held on 23 March 2012 at Victoria Golf Course, the same prestigious course where the Australian Masters was...
