Alisa Camplin presents $20,000 Finnan’s Gift Grant to The Royal Children’s Hospital
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 Camplin-Warner was diagnosed in-utero with congenital heart disease (CHD) and passed away at just 10-days-old.
The fundraising project was set up by Alisa and Oliver to honour their son and to raise awareness for CHD, which is the leading cause of death in young children in Australia.
The inaugural Finnan’s Gift Grant will specifically fund the Intensive Care (Rosella Ward) nurses to take advantage of a number of education, professional development and training opportunities that will support their work in delivering the best treatments and care at the RCH.The nurses will attend various important industry conferences, enabling them to present their research and enhance their leadership skills and knowledge.
In 2011, Finnan’s Gift’s first fundraising goal of $300,000 was reached in just three months following an outpouring of public support for the Camplin-Warners.
The funds bought a state-of-the-art echocardiology scanning machine for the RCH cardiology department, which has been up and running at the hospital since October 2011.
Following this success, Alisa and Oliver established an ongoing grant, to be presented annually to further honour Finnan’s memory while supporting the RCH specialists, surgeons, nurses and doctors who cared for him.
“Finnan’s Gift has become a very significant part of Oliver’s and my life now. After donating the echocardiology machine in 2011 we simply couldn’t walk away because there is just so much more to do.The Finnan’s Gift Grants will be a way for us to continue giving, to keep working within our community for a better world and of course remember our gorgeous son. We know it won’t be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is,” Alisa said.
RCH Intensive Care Nurse Unit Manager, Adrian Hutchinson says the grant will make a significant contribution to supporting Intensive Care nurses at the RCH.
“Finnan’s Gift Grant will allow our Intensive Care Nurses to take advantage of a number of opportunities that will support their work in delivering the very best treatments to our sickest children,” he said.
Honouring a friend and making a difference for Cardiology patients
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 ball, raising more than $10,000 to fund the purchase of a cardiac MRI coil for use with babies suffering cardiac diseases.
The initial experience inspired Alicia and Hamish to want to continue to make a difference.
“It was a lot of fun and wonderful to be able to honor Simon” Alicia said.
In July 2010 the Macleans held the second Making A Difference ball which raised an incredible $16,292.00 to fund the purchase of five Holter Monitors for the Cardiology Department.
The Macleans visited the RCH to present the monitors to Michael Cheung, the Director of Cardiology, and Alexandra Savis, the acting chief cardiac technologist.
The Holter Monitors are small and light and can be discreetly attached to a patient to enable the recording of the heart rhythm for between 24-48 hours whilst they are at home taking part in normal activity. The data captured can then be analysed by RCH doctors at a later date to help detect abnormalities in the heart rhythm.
The purchase of the new monitors has meant there are more available at any time for patients to take home, which has substantially reduced the waiting times to take part in the study. Families have also been less likely to need to make a return trip to the hospital just to have a monitor fitted.
Thank you to the Macleans and all their supporters for their continued fundraising efforts for the RCH. We truly appreciate all your hard work.
Young fundraiser is all heart
Born with a chronic heart condition, Madeleine Florescu has been a patient at The Royal Children’s Hospital since she was born.
Madaleine spent the first three years of her life at The Royal Children’s Hospital and has undergone countless operations, procedures, and tests over many years. The most recent an operation to replace one of her heart valves.
Now, at 14 years of age, Madeleine has become one of The Royal Children’s Hospital’s most tenacious and creative fundraisers, supporting the Cardiology Department and HeartKids with her incredible efforts for over six years.
Madaleine began fundraising at just eight years old. After seeing the numerous Auxiliaries groups fundraising in the hospital she decided she wanted to do something to help the department that has helped her.
Madaleine started by selling Auxiliary tote bags and merchandise before moving onto selling beaded jewellery she made in hospital while recovering from a recent operation.
With an impressive entrepreneurial spirit, Madaleine has negotiated product donations from bead stores and even a fundraising event with her local McDonald’s to support the RCH.
Her continued efforts are an inspiring insight into the power of community fundraising
Visit Maddy’s Appeal.
The 19th September 2011 was a landmark for our Cardiology dept.
The RCH has been acclaimed as one of Australia’s leading hospitals in the treatment of paediatric congenital heart disease. Minister for Health David Davis today said the RCH will host a new Nationally Funded Centre providing lifesaving heart surgery to seriously ill children. “This is a tremendous achievement for Victoria & demonstrates that the RCH is truly a leader in the provision of paediatric health care,” Mr Davis said.
