RCHF 2009 Year In Review by RCH Foundation

hands up for our children A year of linking lives at The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne 2008–2009

A message from the Foundation

Contents Financial outline

A foundation for excellence

Hand in hand

Your donations at work

Handing on a healthy future

We live in uncertain times. Events of the past year have shown us how our lives can change overnight. The global financial crisis hit economies around the world, decimating the financial security of individuals, companies and, indeed, nations.

A big hand for our donors

The Royal Children’s Hospital is one of the world’s great children’s hospitals. Undoubtedly what contributes to this greatness are the many people who so willingly and generously give of their time and resources in support of our hospital.

Lending a hand – scholarships – nurturing excellence

Hand-in-hand in the quest for answers

A hand in our future – bequests, trusts and foundations

Faces behind the Foundation

Major donors

Bequests

Trusts and foundations

In honour

Board of Governors

Committees

Closer to home, the bushfires that ravaged parts of Victoria on February 7, 2009 – now known as Black Saturday – affected us all. Homes, schools, even whole towns were destroyed, with a tragic death toll of 173. Victorians, stunned at the magnitude of the tragedy, rallied to help those who had lost everything. More than $300 million was donated to the Bushfire Appeal. It would have been understandable if Victorians had said, “We cannot give any more,” by the time the Good Friday Appeal came around. But they didn’t. In April 2009, Victorians raised a record $13,862,734 for The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), with the trust and confidence that every dollar would be spent to benefit sick children. And every dollar will be. Total Foundation income for financial year 2008–09 was $33,175,360. To the many individuals, families, social groups, companies and philanthropic trusts and foundations, who have made this possible, we thank you sincerely for your continuing support and generosity. We will use the funds you have entrusted to us to purchase the latest technologies. Thanks to Foundation donors, the RCH will continue to recruit world-class medical, nursing and allied health specialists to care for your children. We will financially support research that will increase the understanding of why children get sick and how to make them better. Our new Royal Children’s Hospital will open at the end of 2011. This world-leading ‘state-of-the-art’ facility will ensure that all our children and their families continue to have access to the very best treatment in a parkland environment that will be the envy of children’s hospitals throughout the world.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is an important link with these communities, supporting them in their fundraising efforts and helping translate their vision into our vision. Philanthropic funding for state of the art medical equipment, research, training and education programs for our staff, assists RCH to achieve greatness within the global context of paediatric hospitals. Working with our Foundation and our campus partners, within the context of our values of Unity, Passion, Integrity, Excellence and Respect, The Royal Children’s Hospital is able to achieve it’s vision of being a great children’s hospital and to provide outstanding care to children and their families.

Underpinning this level of excellence will be our capacity to fund this unrelenting search for answers, the provision of the very best of clinical and surgical care, and the training and teaching of our very best. Philanthropy will be key to all of this and with our new Royal Children’s Hospital on the horizon the opportunities are abundant. We offer this Year in Review with heartfelt thanks for the generosity of all our supporters. Here, you will read some accounts of how your donations make a difference in the lives of sick children and their families. These are stories of hope and inspiration.

Julian Clarke Chairman, Board of Governors

Brian Mallon Executive Director

Professor Christine Kilpatrick Chief Executive Officer The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Financial outline

Your donations at work Whatever their reason for giving, our donors are united by a common goal – to enhance the level of care the hospital can provide to sick children. This is uppermost in our minds when we allocate funds to research, talent and technology.

Foundation income Source

Good Friday Appeal

13,862,734

41.8%

Bequests, trusts and foundations

13,637,899

41.1%

Other public donations

3,886,074

11.7%

Investment income

1,788,653

5.4%

33,175,360

100.0%

Total

gratitude and humility and with the understanding that it is our task to ensure it is used wisely. There are many people who help decide this – often the donors themselves. Allocating money that is unrestricted or discretionary is a team effort, determined in consultation with senior clinicians and researchers through the hospital’s executive office and the Foundation board.

We know that every dollar raised by our donors is the result of extraordinary dedication and generosity. That’s why it is received with our enormous

The following examples highlight the tangible differences these donated funds have made to the lives of sick children today, and will continue to do so into the future. We hope that they encourage and inspire you, as you have encouraged and inspired us in the past year.

Major funding highlights Research – finding the cures $5 million The unrelenting search for cures to diseases and conditions that so profoundly affect the lives of children and their families world-wide continues unabated.

How funds were used $

14,854,450

44.8%

Future distribution commitments

7,478,204

22.5%

Future Fund

6,583,933

19.9%

Fundraising costs

4,258,773

12.8%

Distributions to the hospital

Total

33,175,360

100.0%

How hospital funds were spent $

4,889,362

32.9%

Talent

4,411,168

29.7%

Technology

2,867,624

19.3%

RCH International

1,858,505

12.5%

Other

827,791

5.6%

Total

14,854,450

100.0%

Research

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

“With all our work, we attempt to multiply the initial seed funding with support from competitive peer-reviewed grants.” For every dollar given by the Foundation, Murdoch Childrens is currently able to attract $5 from other sources.

The Foundation’s research commitment of almost $5 million this year – 33 per cent of total funds distributed – reflects the critical importance of this process.

All this funding is directed to finding answers to the big issues affecting child health including cancer, obesity, heart disease, genetic conditions, mental health and allergies.

As the hospital’s research partner, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute has been the recipient of these funds.

“Without the seed funding, we wouldn’t get the leverage money and without that we wouldn’t have enough money to do global competitive research,” Professor Dwyer says.

Murdoch Childrens Director, Professor Terry Dwyer AO says, “Funding from the RCH Foundation gives us the opportunity to launch exciting new research projects to solve important child health problems, both in Australia and globally.

“Investment in child health research is critical in helping us tackle conditions affecting children not only today, but also in future generations.”

“The RCH Foundation’s support is a major source of seed funding for our work. It is very difficult to get the early stages of exciting but risky projects off the ground and we couldn’t do it without this support.

Professor Terry Dwyer

Professor Paul Monagle

Career grants $900,000 Our investment in our people is perhaps the most productive expenditure on the campus. These funds provided by the Foundation are managed by campus partners Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne’s Department of Paediatrics, illustrating how research and teaching are intertwined with clinical care. The value of these research career grants is best described by those who receive them. Professor Paul Monagle, Stevenson Professor of Paediatrics and Head of the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, sums it up: “Receiving a part-time career grant was absolutely invaluable to me, giving me the ability to commence my research program into clotting disorders. This kind of support impacts on child and adolescent health, locally, nationally and worldwide. We must ensure that it continues for current and future generations of RCH staff.”

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Major funding highlights Pain management program $551,000 For many patients attending The Royal Children’s Hospital having a procedure such as a blood test, or having plaster removed when a fracture has healed can be the cause of anxiety and distress, fearing it may hurt. It’s true that most patients do need to undergo some kind of procedure and even a simple x-ray can be a fearful experience for a child. The Royal Children’s Hospital is committed to reducing this anxiety wherever possible and has established the Comfort Kids program. The program provides leadership, research, education, resources and expertise in the management of children’s discomfort, anxiety and distress before, during and after procedures.

The RCH Children’s Bioethics Centre $309,000 Thanks to the support of Woolworths staff the hospital is able to employ educational play therapists who help prepare more than 200 children each month for tests and procedures. These funds also enable the program to provide advanced training to health care staff in this area. It also provides resources for distraction therapy – while the child reads a book or blows bubbles the bandage is removed, or the blood is taken – no fuss, no tears! A booklet to prepare children for surgery, and an interactive CD-ROM telling children what it’s like coming to hospital are other tools funded through the Comfort Kids program.

Since 2007 the staff of Woolworths have sponsored Comfort Kids through their donation to the Good Friday Appeal.

Sometimes, clinicians, patients and parents are confronted by difficult and complex ethical issues such as end-of-life care, life-sustaining treatment, extreme prematurity, pharmacotherapy and research.

The centre also conducts cuttingedge research to provide a better evidence base for high quality ethical decision-making. All this contributes to a better patient and family experience at the RCH.

The Children’s Bioethics Centre aims to provide assistance in these difficult situations. The Clinical Ethics Service at the centre, provides advice to clinicians and conducts professional development and training to better equip clinicians to manage these complex situations.

The Children’s Bioethics Centre, conducted by the RCH in partnership with the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, is fully funded by an initial $1 million grant over three years from the RCH Foundation.

A little over a year ago the Foundation board took the decision to establish a Future Fund set aside specifically for the purpose of assisting and ensuring the financial stability of the Foundation into the future.

Launched in August 2008, Australia’s first Children’s Bioethics Centre is one of only two in the world, and is an outstanding example of the hospital’s leading role in the practice and development of paediatrics internationally. Professor Lynn Gillam and Dr Hugo Gold

“An investment in pain free care and treatment” Breathing machines (ventilators) $431,000 Many critically ill children admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) require support from a ventilator (or breathing machine). “Ventilators mechanically move air and oxygen in and out of the lungs if children are too sick to breathe for themselves. Ventilators provide the ultimate life support, and without them, many of our patients would die” says Associate Professor Lara Shekerdemian, Medical Director of PICU. Thanks to our generous donors we replaced ten existing units with ‘state of the art‘ ventilators ensuring that our doctors and nurses have the world’s best equipment at their hands in the care and treatment of our children.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Handing on a healthy future

‘In the end, only parents can decide what they want for their children. The new Children’s Bioethics Centre aims to help them make decisions’. Further funding highlights $ RCH International training programs

In the 2009 financial year, approximately $6.5 million has been set aside for this purpose and forms part of the Foundation’s investment corpus. The intention is to grow the Future Fund in the forthcoming years, thereby establishing a substantial investment base as well as a provision for large capital items that may be needed into the future.

1,900,000

Purchase 12 ‘state of the art’ anaesthetic machines

926,000

Victor & Loti Smorgon Professorial Chair (Professor Julie Bines)

384,000

Physical & intellectual disability program

245,000

Children’s weekly in-house television program (Macadamia)

234,000

Paediatric surgical research

208,000

RCH music therapy program

199,000

RCH Gait Laboratory research

193,000

Blood purification system

162,000

Mental health family violence program

159,000

RCHF travelling scholarships

155,000

RCH Centre for Adolescent Health

151,000

Dermatology laser equipment

106,000

Dendritic cancer cell program

103,000

Community outreach nursing program

100,000

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

A BIG HAND FOR OUR DONORS Our donors come from all walks of life. They may have been patients themselves or have family or friends who are patients. This year, they have contributed a remarkable $31million. Whether their donations came through the annual Good Friday Appeal, through funds raised among

friends and family in the community, or Bequests, Trusts or Foundations, every donation is one more step towards a healthier future for the thousands of sick children who come to the hospital for treatment each year.

This year, we have chosen to showcase just some of the ways your donations have made a difference. This difference is three-fold. For our donors, it is often an emotional and inspiring journey, for our doctors and clinicians it is the satisfaction of seeing a need fulfilled, and for the patients

whose lives are touched, it is the difference between good and excellent care. We dedicate these stories to you, our donors, in grateful acknowledgement.

Donor – Good Friday Appeal

The kids are home for the Easter holidays, the telly is on and you’re watching one of your favourite celebrities call out your family’s pledge at the Channel Seven telethon for The Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. “Giving to the kids” on Good Friday is a Melbourne tradition – like the Royal Melbourne Show and the Melbourne Cup. But for many people it’s Good Friday every day. “Many of our groups work all year round,” says Emoke Bakacs, Deputy Director of the appeal. “Some area managers in particular are out there fundraising every day – every opportunity they have.” The same goes for the 85 hospital auxiliaries, who this year contributed $1.7 million to the appeal – selling colourful tote bags or tiny hand-knitted cardigans in the hospital foyer every day or organising major fundraising events. Christine Unsworth, the Director of the appeal, says simply, “It’s extraordinary.”

It’s a word that comes up often when talking about those that make the appeal happen – the donors. Even more extraordinary is the fact that Victorians, who had given so much for the Bushfire Appeal this year, maintained their commitment for this year’s Good Friday Appeal.

It’s a message that they have embraced, Christine says: “The community actually owns the Good Friday Appeal. We’re just the instruments that make it work, but the community has great pride and ownership. It is pride in raising money but it’s also pride in being involved with the appeal and the hospital.”

“During those fires, we were getting phone calls from some Country Fire Authority (CFA) reps to say ‘Don’t worry, we’re not going to let you down,” Emoke says, shaking her head in wonder. And they didn’t. This year, the appeal raised a record $13.9 million.

Whether, they give their support every day, or make it a family tradition to give on Good Friday, or to “run for the kids” as part of the Herald Sun City Link Run for the Kids, all donors make an extraordinary difference – a difference that everyone on the Good Friday Appeal team is grateful for.

It’s the same commitment and goodwill that motivated Jim Blake and Fred Laby, two Sporting Globe journalists, to hold a sporting carnival “for the sick kiddies” 78 years ago – kicking off the appeal.

Without their support, the hospital would not be the world class leader in children’s health that it is today.

Today, this commitment is continued by the appeal’s media partners, the Herald Sun, Channel Seven Melbourne, radio stations 3AW 693 and Magic 1278 and Prime Television. Their support is vital in getting the appeal message to millions of Victorians.

Country Fire Authority members and Appeal Director Christine Unsworth in front of the country tally board

A good tradition – The Good Friday Appeal Appeal Director Christine Unsworth accepts a cheque from Peter Little, National Marketing Manager, CityLink and Peter Blunden, Managing Director, Herald & Weekly Times

Woolworths staff and their big cheque

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Sofia’s Restaurant team with Jennifer Keyte

The Cadbury Bunny

Running for the kids

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

donor Journeys – Trish and James Nardella

> a need identified

> A life touched

Each year, The Royal Children’s Hospital cares for more than 1000 children suffering from incontinence. For some, the problem is caused by nerve damage resulting from problems such as spina bifida, but for many the cause is unknown.

Going to hospital means playing computer games for five year old Claudia Oswin. The more bananas she can help the monkey catch, the better she gets at controlling her pelvic floor and bladder – and the more prizes she is likely to win, courtesy of surgeon Dr Mike O’Brien.

“If you look at the community, wetting is a huge issue. It is a social stigma that results in bullying, low self esteem and low academic achievement. You don’t reach your full potential in life,” Dr Mike O’Brien, surgeon says. “There’s an outstanding continence service here with a lot of really dedicated clinicians, who manage the vast majority to success. But we tend to see the end of the spectrum for whom there is just no other solution, sometimes because we haven’t had the right tools to investigate.’ The new state-of-the-art urodynamics equipment, which uses video games as a visual aid, will provide more detailed and accurate measurements of bladder, urethra and pelvic floor function to allow for better assessment and treatment. “It’s pelvic floor exercises for the 21st century,” Dr O’Brien says.

Rallying their support

He attaches electrodes to his forearms and explains how the new urodynamics equipment works. “This is measuring the muscle activity in my forearms. So if I just rest my forearm, and if I squeeze, it goes up,” he says showing how squeezing one arm pushes a fish across the screen, while squeezing the other makes a dolphin frolic.

It was 14 years ago that Trish and James Nardella received the call that every parent dreads. “Your daughter has a brain tumour,” the local doctor said, after examining x-rays taken to find out why two year old Elisha had been falling down a lot.

“Trish and I just burst out into tears,” James says. “We looked at Elisha and said, Oh my God! How lucky are we? “We went out into the ward, and all these kids were suffering from cancer and other diseases and we thought we’ve got to do something. And that’s how it started.” Trish adds, “Just spending that time at the hospital the support was just unbelievable. The staff – they are a breed of their own – they really are. They never ever stop giving you support all the way through. It’s just amazing.

So that’s when we asked, well how do we give back?”

manage it. “Did I mention we have six children?” laughs Trish.

That first year, Trish and James organised a car rally with family and friends, raising $1500. Since then, they have raised thousands with the help and support of family, friends, staff, and the RCH Foundation.

However, last year, they raised $32,500 – almost double the previous year. “When Trish added everything up, I said, ‘Have you counted it right?” James says.

The rally, which takes place every Queen’s Birthday weekend and is organised through Convic, the family business, has become possibly the biggest in Victoria, taking around 600 hours to organise. In the past four years alone, it has raised $67,805, providing vital equipment for the hospital. This year, Trish and James had a break because they moved business premises and so just couldn’t

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

The money was used to buy stateof-the art urodynamics equipment that has totally changed the way that patients are now treated. “That’s why it’s worth every single bit of it,” Trish says. “To put in the amount of hours that we do, at times it’s quite trying, but I know what we can do with it. With the equipment that we bought with that money and the amount of people whose lives it’s going to change, it’s worth every cent, definitely.”

“Mike provides incentives in the form of prizes, but it’s quite incredible that you can teach a four year old that in just a few sessions. We found it incredibly helpful.”

Dr O’Brien is like a kid with a new toy. “I just want to show you, only because it’s cool,” he explains, leading us to a small room where a computer monitor sits on a stand.

> A journey

The family was referred to The Royal Children’s Hospital for further tests. After anxiously waiting for the results, they were called in by the specialist. “Who the hell took these x-rays?” he demanded. “She hasn’t got a brain tumour – it’s just a bad x-ray.”

“She’s had probably three sessions on the machine and can completely use her pelvic floor now,” her mother, Sally, says.

Usually, the electrodes would be attached to a child’s abdomen and pelvic floor to teach them how to relax their pelvic floor muscles when they urinate. “But I’m not going to show you my pelvic floor. We’ve only just met,” he jokes in a lilting Irish accent. Trish and James Nardella at their pipes and fittings business CONVIC

Claudia Oswin concentrating on catching bananas

“Now we have the latest equipment available anywhere in the world. So we’re future proof for the next five or 10 years”. Dr Mike O’Brien

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Donor – The Sarris Family

> A journey

“Pretty much at that moment when we turned the machines off, I made a promise to her that every year I was still alive I would honour her memory,” Maria Sarris says.

A gift for life

Since then, Maria has raised more than $50,000 in Leah’s name. Leah died from brain injuries resulting from a car accident. She was the eldest of three children. “She was a very vibrant, cheerful little girl with a lot of energy,” Maria says.

When six year old Leah Sarris passed away in intensive care in The Royal Children’s Hospital in October 2005, her mother made a promise.

“You feel so helpless to sit there and watch your child hooked up to machines. You just pray and hope. But in circumstances like these, it’s in no-one else’s hands except maybe

God’s. To watch your child in those circumstances – it’s a horrible, horrible feeling.” It is a feeling that Maria hopes other parents never experience. That’s why she is dedicated to helping raise funds for the PICU. “I feel obligated to every mother and every father who has a child,” she says. Six months after Leah’s death, Maria organised for family and friends to take part in the Run for the Kids, raising $1,000. “We had t-shirts printed with her photo.” A year later, in 2007, with the help of the Foundation, she organised the first Leah Sarris Tribute Dinner. “I woke up one morning and I thought, you know what,

However, the Brainz monitor represents ten years of research and provides a rare window into the brain, according to chief technologist Mark Hochmann. “It allows us to treat the whole patient and get a clearer idea of what is going on in the most important organ in the body, which is the brain,” he says. Director of Intensive Care, Dr Lara Shekerdemian, says, “Although the brain is a vitally important organ, and so susceptible to injury in critically ill children, until relatively recently we have had very little ability to observe its activity, or to detect early any brain injury

Most significantly, the money bought a highly specialised brain monitor, that gives very detailed readings on brain activity, which will be used for patients like Leah in the PICU. Taking an active role in helping the hospital has since become a mission for Maria. Maria’s pledge to Leah means a life-long association with the hospital. “I won’t stop,” she says. I promised and my promise is for every year, no matter how big or small.”

> A life touched

> a need identified

The Brainz monitor is much like the human brain itself – rather small and unobtrusive compared to its capability.

I’ve got to do something big. But I didn’t quite realise it would be that big. We were aiming for $10,000 and we ended up raising more than $21,000.”

in our patients. The Brainz machine has changed this. It continuously monitors the brain’s electrical activity (brainwaves) and provides intensive care doctors with an immediate indicator of brain injury in our high-risk patients.” Mark Hochmann says “Seizures may reflect brain injury. During seizure activity the brain goes into overdrive and uses a lot of energy. This might in turn lead to further brain injury. If we detect seizures, we have a good chance of treating them but if you don’t know it’s happening, you can’t give any intervention. In intensive care, we are always on the lookout for monitors and tests which pick up problems early. This is crucial for us in our environment.”

The Brainz monitor has other applications. Michelle Goldsworthy, a clinical nurse specialist, explains how the monitor was recently used in The Hearts and Minds study of 75 cardiac patients to determine brain injury at around the time of cardiac surgery. Wesley Heafield, pictured, was one of these. “We were looking at the timing of brain injury, and how this injury then relates to the later development in babies having cardiac surgery” Michelle explains. “The Brainz monitor shows us changes at around the time that brain injury actually occurs. It gives us an opportunity to intervene with extra treatments that may reduce the injury. The study will also tell us how these changes impact on the later outcome of our patients.”

“I’m so pleased that we’ve got it, and I think that the work of the donors is very inspiring”. Dr Lara Shekerdemian

Maria Sarris with a photo of Leah

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Dr Mark Hochmann and Dr Lara Shekerdemian with the Brainz monitor

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Donor – Hamish & Alicia Maclean – Honouring a friend – Making a Difference Ball

> A journey

From the heart Hamish Maclean and his fellow band members had a regular following when they played covers in gigs around Geelong. But none were as devoted as Steven*, who for the past six or seven years had followed the band wherever they played. “If they were playing at Irish Murphy’s in Geelong, he would stand with his glass of raspberry and watch. Raspberry soft drink was his drink and that was his spot,” Hamish’s wife, Alicia says. Steven, who was in his early 20s, had been born with an underlying heart condition, originally diagnosed and treated at The Royal Children’s Hospital, and had a pacemaker fitted to regulate his heart beat. “He did a lot of volunteer work because his condition stopped him having a fulltime job,” Alicia says. But nothing stopped him from having fun. “He was quite a larrikin, really. He was only allowed to drink a certain amount of fluid a day, and he’d make jokes that he’d saved himself up so he could have one beer.” In 2007 Steven went up to Ballarat to join other friends to celebrate Hamish’s birthday at a local restaurant. “It was a stinking hot day. It was 42 degrees,” Alicia says. As they were leaving the restaurant to go back to Alicia and Hamish’s place for a party, Steven collapsed and was rushed to hospital. * Not his real name

Hamish & Alicia Maclean

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

He spent the next few days in intensive care and seemed to have recovered. But four days later while being transferred by ambulance back to Melbourne for an operation, he suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died. “We couldn’t believe it because we thought he was on the mend,” Alicia says. “We were just completely devastated and empty. “I thought I really want to do something, especially because he‘d loved the band and loved life. I really wanted to do something that all his friends could come to.” Alicia knew that Steven had spent a lot of time at The Royal Children’s Hospital as a child and so she contacted the Foundation for advice. The result was the Making a Difference Ball held on the anniversary of Steven’s death a year later, and which raised more than $10,000 to buy a cardiac MRI coil for use with babies suffering heart disease. Previously, the cardiac team had needed to use coils designed for other parts of the body. The new coil allows them to capture extremely detailed images of the hearts of small patients, improving diagnosis and treatment.

> a need identified

> A life touched

Getting accurate pictures of tiny hearts can be a big problem, especially when your equipment is made for adults. That’s why Associate Professor Michael Ditchfield, director of MRI, and Dr Michael Cheung, acting director of cardiology, knew that they would need to get a cardiac coil especially built if they were going to improve the diagnosis and treatment of babies with heart disease.

Having the special cardiac coil to more precisely diagnose his condition meant one less invasive treatment for 12 week old James Thornton, who was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome.

But they also knew it would be expensive and difficult to fund because of its limited application. “It was just the perfect thing when they said that they had this money,” Dr Michael Ditchfield says. “In the past we used to catheterise all of these high-risk children, at about three months of age, and now that we have MRI we just do that instead,” Dr Michael Cheung says. The improved images from the coil also mean better and more specific information for surgeons in preparing children for operations. “Most children’s hospitals don’t have cardiac MRI, so this is a particular service that we are very lucky to have,” Dr Michael Cheung says.

“James is quite sensitive to touch because of all the invasive treatments since he was born, so the fact that we can save him from one of those experiences is wonderful,” his mother, Nikki, says. HLHS is a condition where the left side of the heart is malformed and cannot efficiently pump blood to the rest of the body. The problem was diagnosed before birth, so Nikki and her husband David were prepared. “He was actually fine at birth, but they warned us that he could be blue. Until you know what that means you think you might give birth to a Smurf,” she laughs. Since then, James has had two operations and is well enough to recover at home for now. All being well, he will have another operation at age four. “We are so lucky to have that expertise at the hospital and those wonderful cardiologists and surgeons. Without them, my little boy wouldn’t be alive today. How do you thank somebody for that? I don’t know.”

“And I think we do it as well as anywhere in the world, if not better, and this is one of the reasons why,” Dr Michael Ditchfield adds.

Dr Michael Cheung holding the MRI coil

The experience has inspired Alicia and Hamish to want to continue to make a difference. “We’re already in the process of organising another one next year in November. It was a lot of fun and it was wonderful to be able to honour Steven.”

James Thornton & mother Nikki

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Lending a hand – scholarships – nurturing

excellence

The care of our children depends on the talents of many. Their skill, knowledge and dedication are vital resources that must be nurtured if we are to continue to maintain and pursue excellence. This year, the Foundation gave $1.2 million for scholarships. A new scholarship initiated and funded through our auxiliaries the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship offers a big hand up for nurses.

scholarships – Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship – auxiliaries

> A dream

A hand up for nursing “I’m just blown away every day when I think about the fact that they are willing to put that much money behind a nurse.”

Sharon Downes has wanted to be a nurse ever since she can remember. “I’ve always wanted to look after babies ever since I saw a program about a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on TV when I was about 13.” But it’s only recently that she has realised where this could lead. As the first recipient of the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship, Sharon will travel to the United Kingdom and France to learn more about pain management in babies undergoing Mandibular Distraction (MD) for Pierre Robin Sequence. Pierre Robin Sequence develops very early in utero sometimes through genetic causes but more commonly due to positioning in the uterus which compresses the chin. Sharon’s interest in these babies led her firstly to research and produce information brochures for both parents

and nurses. This then led to a special interest in managing babies who had undergone MD.

As a result, pain management of babies who undergo this treatment at the hospital was changed.

MD involves cutting through the side of the jaw and applying a distracter device to gradually separate and lengthen the jaw. Although it is acknowledged the initial operation is painful, it was thought that the lengthening procedure was painless.

The turnabout has galvanised Sharon to change practice worldwide. As part of her scholarship, she will travel to the UK and Paris to learn more, but the highlight will be attending the International Society of Craniofacial Surgeons XIII Biennial International Conference in Oxford, England, where she says MD is going to be “the hot topic”.

But from her observations of the babies she was nursing, Sharon believed otherwise. To prove her point she decided to study the pain management of patients at the hospital. Sharon went through the histories of the babies at the hospital who had undergone MD and presented it to the surgeons, neonatologists and anaesthetists.

“That’s going to be fantastic. I’m going to learn so much – even just meeting all these people and the authors of the articles that I’ve been reading.” “You don’t go into nursing ever thinking that an opportunity like this will come up.

“I covered every kind of problem, thinking that they would argue with me, and after I did the presentation, they just went ‘Oh, wow!’ That was the highlight of my career. I thought, oh my gosh, they listened to me!”

> A reality

The Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Nursing Development Scholarship is an initiative of the RCH auxiliaries to honor Dame Elisabeth’s contribution to the hospital on her 100th birthday. Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE are pictured at the inaugural Dame Elisabeth Luncheon which will contribute to the scholarship.

Sharon Downes with Pierre Robin Sequence patient Oliver O’Shea

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Hand-in-hand in the quest for answers Treating disease is just part of caring for kids. Putting your hand up and asking why disease occurs is the first step towards prevention. Altogether, the Foundation has provided $4.9 million this year to the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute for a wide range of projects to help provide answers for our children and their families. Here are just a few.

Research – Multiple Sclerosis Registry

In the neurology ward a teenager has just heard the news that he has multiple sclerosis (MS). It’s not a disease that most people associate with children, but in the past 15 years, there has been a clear increase in cases, according to paediatric neurologist Associate Professor Andrew Kornberg. “I have probably looked after about 40 kids myself,” Dr Kornberg says. “When I began my training we would see a new diagnosis of MS once a year or every other year. Now though, it’s not that uncommon.” The youngest patient diagnosed was just four. This corresponds with a world-wide autoimmune disease epidemic, which includes increases in the number of children with Type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease and juvenile arthritis. In the past year, the Foundation has contributed $53,175 towards various studies to help work out why. “There are now a lot of studies going on and we are part of that because we’ve got a very large group of patients with childhood MS,” Dr Kornberg says.

“It’s very important that children are treated early because if they aren’t then the consequences are much more severe in later life”. “If someone develops MS at 40, they may be using a cane at 50. But if a child develops it at age 10, without treatment, they will be using a cane by the time they are 20.” One of the questions that Dr Kornberg and a team of researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute are attempting to answer is what role environmental factors are playing in the increase in MS and other autoimmune diseases. This includes exposure to sunlight and vitamin D, diet, infection, vaccinations and smoking. Murdoch Childrens epidemiologist Associate Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby, who is part of the team, says that one theory is that today’s children are not exposed to early life microbes, reducing immunity and increasing vulnerability. “It’s thought with the infant’s early life, it’s sort of like a dance. Infection is like a male dance partner, and they have to dance to develop the immune system. Immune priming depends on lots of practice, on changing partners with different infections,” she says.

“The aim is to improve our knowledge about what the immune system needs to develop perfectly, and then to somehow give it the correct microbial environment in early life for it to develop.” Dr Kornberg is also involved in a Murdoch Childrens study examining the effects of MS on learning and IQ in children. “Kids who have MS will have problems in multiple domains of learning, so their functioning at school can be quite severely affected.” He hopes that a central registry of all childhood MS around the world, which he is helping to put together, will allow world-wide collaboration for study into the causes and treatment of childhood MS. “We can see that not understanding what causes something means that you can’t provide the best effective treatments,” he says. “So many of these kids and their families I look after for many, many years, and I’ve become part of their life – and that’s a privilege. But you really want to make a difference and allow them to lead normal lives.”

> A life touched

> A hand raised

Early intervention is the key

Sharna Sewell was just three when she had her first attack of what was later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis, but the disease was not officially diagnosed until three years ago. Multiple sclerosis is the most common chronic neurological disease in young adults. But most diagnoses occur between the ages of 20 and 40. From first symptoms to diagnosis, it’s been a big journey, and one that Sharna has shared with Associate Professor Andrew Kornberg, who has been both the clinical doctor treating Sharna and at the forefront of research to find a cause and a cure. It’s a combination that Sharna’s mother, Sue, is grateful for. “I think it’s absolutely fantastic,” she says. “If it hadn’t been for Andrew Kornberg, I think I’d be in a bit of a heap. I couldn’t have asked for better.”

Associate Professor Andrew Kornberg and Associate Professor Anne-Louise Ponsonby

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Research – genetic markers for childhood leukaemia

> A hand raised

Getting the numbers on your side Routine testing is usually just that for most hospitals. After the initial diagnosis the tests are archived and mostly forgotten.

But Dr Nick Wong, a post-doctoral fellow in the Developmental Epigenetics Research Group at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute has successfully developed the technology to use routine tests for leukaemia patients over the past 15 years to research the epigenetic markers for childhood leukaemia. While 80 per cent of children will survive leukaemia, not much is known about the 20 per cent who do not. “We want to ask a very basic question: what is causing the leukaemia, and to look at all patients to try to find this common mark,” Dr Wong says. “Epigenetics is a very new field in medical research and it’s becoming very clear that it’s epigenetic changes more so than DNA point mutations that are actually associated with cancer.” Using the data from patients at the hospital was an obvious resource. Every child who is suspected of having leukaemia has a bone marrow aspirate taken for diagnostic purposes, which is stored on a glass slide.

However, Dr Richard Saffery, who is working with Dr Wong on the project, along with Dr Jeff Craig and Associate Professor David Ashley, says extracting the DNA from the slides was not straightforward. “Some were up to 10 years old. It’s a lot like forensics. Dr Wong showed that even if this slide was fixed in this chemical, or mounted, he could soak it in an organic solvent, get the cover slip-off and isolate the DNA and then we could look at DNA methylation in those kids.” DNA methylation is a chemical modification of the DNA sequence. Methylated genes are switched off, which is what occurs in cancer. “We’ve gone from having no real interest or no real molecular interest in paediatric leukaemia to now having this resource of one of the biggest collections of cases in the world,” Dr Saffery says. The information will also be used to identify which children are likely to respond to treatment. “It lets you find the most effective treatment for an individual rather than waiting to see what happens with your fingers crossed.” The Foundation supported Dr Wong’s initial project with $131,400 in 2005–06 and a further $343,500 in 2008–09.

Dr Nick Wong with a slide used in the epigenetics study

“It’s all about leveraging funds. And that’s where that foundation money is incredibly important, because without that, you can’t start anything new,” Dr Saffery says. Dr Wong will also take an advisory role in Director Professor Terry Dwyer’s broader study, the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium (I4C), an international collaboration that will study one million mothers and their babies to find a preventable cause for childhood leukaemia.

> A life touched

Six year old Georgia Vogelsang was relieved to know that leukaemia was not caused by eating too many lollies. But that still doesn’t answer her question of “Why did I get it?”. That’s why her mother, Mardi, is excited about Dr Wong’s research into the epigentics and causes of childhood leukaemia. It would help answer not only Georgia’s question but the questions of friends and family, Mardi says. To know the real reason and to be able to prevent it would be “amazing”, she says.

Dr Nick Wong

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Research – genetic markers for childhood leukaemia

> A hand raised

It’s been a busy day in the clinic for Professor Paul Monagle.

Taking a holistic approach

Professor Monagle wears two hats – Head of Haematology at the hospital, where he also has a clinical role, and Stevenson Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. “I love seeing patients and I can’t envisage myself not seeing patients. I guess that’s why even though I’ve got a full time professorial job, I still keep a very big patient load,” he says. Today he is seeing a seven year old boy from Horsham who has come for his regular check up. The boy has recovered well from serious cardiac surgery but must take blood-thinning drugs to ensure that he doesn’t develop a clot in his heart. It’s Paul’s job to make sure that these drugs are working safely and effectively.

“This child recently had a bone density monitoring, and it was low, so we will refer on to an endocrinologist to see what they can do.” “It’s a holistic approach – the research is not done in isolation, it’s a circle. It all works together to improve the outcome for kids.” The haematology department also has a strong educational role and its expertise on clotting problems in children is sought world-wide. “Most of the research we are doing is around the bleeding and clotting system. We’re looking at understanding how that clotting system works in children and how that interacts with the clotting drugs,” Paul says.

“Blood-thinning drugs in that age group are very difficult to manage, so you need someone who is experienced in managing the drug safely in a seven year old who’s going to be running around in the school ground and riding bikes,” he says.

“So we’ve got projects looking at all of the major drugs that are used in children. And we’re now working with industry to develop new drugs for children with these conditions. Lots of that work is around collecting information about what happens to our patients when we treat them with those drugs.”

Research by the department showed that warfarin (a blood-thinning drug) affected bone density, so all patients are now monitored, he says.

Research shows that plasma changes with age. Professor Monagle and his team are now asking why.

> A life touched

Like any other four year old, Zane Tormey loves to play. But taking bloodthinning drugs means that he has to be a little more careful than other kids his age. “We’ve had to make a few lifestyle changes and be careful with what he does,” his mother, Tracey says. “We can’t be rough and ready.”

Zane was born with hyperplastic left-heart syndrome (HLHS), and was operated on soon after birth. He now visits the haematology unit every three months so that the effect of the drugs can be monitored. “He’s doing great,” Tracey says. She is happy that Paul Monagle and his team are researching

the effect of the drugs on children like Zane. “Obviously, if they could come up with drugs that didn’t have the side-effects of impaired bonedensity, that would be great.”

Patient Zane Tormey and Professor Paul Monagle

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

A hand in our future – bequests, trusts and foundations For some people, it is important that the work of the hospital continues, even when they are no longer here. They want a hand in our future, to safeguard the health of future generations of children, either through a bequest or through a family trust or foundation. Last year these generous and visionary people gave $13.6 million to the Foundation. Ilma Mary Aitken and the Bell Charitable Trust are just two examples of this generosity.

Donor Bequest – Ilma Mary Aitkin Fellowship

> A win for diabetes research

Dr Fergus Cameron was riding in the Great Victorian Bike Ride two years ago, when Debbie Sayers hailed him. “She bailed me up and said, ‘I’ve got something for you!”

Debbie, a fellow bike rider, told him that her beloved aunt, Ilma Mary Aitkin, had died and bequeathed $560,000 to the hospital and that she, Debbie, wanted it to fund diabetic research.

Although not a race, he can remember feeling like an immediate winner.

For Dr Cameron, a paediatric endocrinologist with more than 1,500 young patients suffering mostly from Type 1 diabetes, this was a boon – even more so because Debbie’s daughter, Juliette, 15, was one of those patients. “This is really exciting,” he says. “This is the sort of lead we’ve been casting around for to try and get a firm footing under what we do. This is really a major plank.”

Ilma Mary Aitken

In a first for the hospital, the money bequeathed by Ilma will be matched through funds to be raised by the hospital and its supporters and invested to create a fellowship in perpetuity.

An extraordinary gesture

“One of the things we’d like to do from a research perspective is to start a large longitudinal cohort study which will run

Ilma Mary Aitken was in many ways a very ordinary woman. Born in Casterton in 1917, the second of four children, she grew up in Kensington and from 1942 lived with her mother in McKinnon.

maybe 20 years” said Dr Cameron. “Now if we know we’ve got a series of three-year positions, that there’s always somebody there who can be driving that, then we can feel confident about that.” The incidence of children presenting to our clinic with Type 1 diabetes has doubled in the past 10 years. In the past 20 years, the traditional complications of diabetes, such as kidney and eye problems, have largely been resolved. However, the rate of mental health issues among patients is 38 per cent, Dr Cameron says. “More than one in three of our kids has significant depression and anxiety, so mental health is right on the top of the issues for us to deal with, not only of the patients, but also their families.”

Dr Fergus Cameron

In 1943, Ilma began work as a clerk at the CSIRO, where she met her husband, Jim Short. It was Jim who taught Ilma to invest, but despite the wealth they amassed, they lived a frugal but active life. “Aunty Ilma was a very ordinary woman. She wasn’t a flash lady,” her niece Debbie says. But through a bequest left to The Royal Children’s Hospital, Ilma has made an extraordinary contribution to the futures of children suffering from Type 1 diabetes – including that of her grand niece, Juliette. It was September 11, 2001 when Juliette was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Debbie and Juliette were visiting Ilma in Cabrini hospital where she had had a foot operation, when

they received the call from their GP to say that blood tests taken earlier that day showed that Juliette was at risk of falling into a diabetic coma. “We were admitted (to the RCH) at 10.30 that night – on the same day the planes went into the buildings. I thought, ‘Wow, our lives have changed forever and the world has changed forever,’ ” Debbie says. Juliette had been unwell for several weeks so the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was both a shock and a relief. She is now 17, healthy, and a familiar face at the Diabetes Clinic where she is a patient of Dr Fergus Cameron. Ilma, who had no children of her own, had always intended a bequest to go to the hospital, but she left it to

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Debbie and the rest of the family to decide how it would be used. “She’d say, you can fix that,” Debbie says. “I’m really happy that it’s going in a way back to help the family and the diabetes community, which has been helpful for us to be part of,” Debbie says. “If you have got a connection, as we have, you can’t help do something specific and identifiable with it.” “I think the message is that you don’t have to be remarkable to do something – particularly with this ageing and childless generation. They might have nieces and nephews, they might have a connection – and they can help.”

> Remembering Aunty Ilma

“The thing I remember the most about Aunty Ilma would be the way she dressed and the things she had. She was just so charming. She was like she was stuck in the past, but she was so nice,” says her grand niece, Juliette Sayers. “She always wore a skirt and top and always wore stockings and similar shoes and I always found that comforting. That was Aunty Ilma.” Like her clothes, Ilma’s house was a reflection of the 1940s. “She had a really old stove, and I always found that intriguing,” However, Ilma’s decision to leave a bequest to the hospital has given her a definite stake in the future. “I think it’s really good,” Juliette says. “It’s something our family can look at be proud of. It sets an example for others and I hope that something good can come of it.”

Dr Fergus Cameron with Ilma’s grand niece Juliette

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Faces behind the Foundation

trusts, bequests and foundations – Bell Charitable Trust

When ChIPS are good for you

Whichever way you give to the Foundation, our staff are here to lend a hand. Sensitive to your needs and wishes, their aim is to make your commitment as easy as possible. Your journey is our journey. Sometimes, donors just want some advice on how to run an event, while other times, they want to share their experiences and tell us why giving is important to them.

out, they do it – for decades, the majority of them. If I had to pick something, I guess it’s the respect you have for them, because they keep doing it.”

Donor Development Co-ordinator Lauren Stewart says, “People are doing amazing things every day to fundraise for the hospital and the differences that those funds are able to make, inspire you every day.”

Whether the donor is giving $500 or $5 million, they all share a common goal, says Michelle Olinder, who manages RCH1000. Working at the Foundation is “rewarding, fulfilling and extremely humbling and grounding – particularly in relation to the families we work with,” she says.

Donna Aranyi, Donor Development Manager, agrees. “I think fundraising is about so many things. It’s not just about raising money. My role is to develop relationships with the donors. Some of those relationships have not only changed the life of the staff at the hospital, but also my own life as a fundraiser.” Sue Manson, the co-ordinator of the hospital’s 85 auxiliaries, says the one word that comes to mind when she thinks of the thousands of volunteers involved is respect. “Year in, year

Triple Brownlow medallist Bobby Skilton, who for the past eight years has been the Foundation’s corporate and community ambassador, sums it up. “Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to do what they want to do, when they want to do it, to the best of their ability at whatever level, are just so lucky it doesn’t matter. And if you can do something for kids who aren’t so lucky, and give a little bit back, it’s very rewarding.”

Loretta Bellato

> A vital connection

> Michaela – Chipper

Young people with chronic illnesses experience a lot of social isolation, says ChIPS co-ordinator Loretta Bellato.

Michaela Gunn loves ChIPS, but not the take-away type. The ChIPS she loves are good for you.

“They miss a lot of school, they miss out on camps and they feel different from their peers. As we know, adolescence is a time when peers are very important and being confident and being able to connect with others is very important.” “Some have never been able to be away from home because of their illness, but we are able to bring doctors and nurses on camps with us,” Loretta says.

Michaela is one of many young patients aged 12–25 who suffer a chronic illness and who are part of the Chronic Illness Peer Support (ChIPS) program run by the Centre for Adolescent Health. “ChIPS has been amazing for me, putting me on the right path and getting me back on track with my health and social connections,” Michaela, 15, says.

Michaela Gunn

“I love that we can get together and be so open and honest with everything and don’t have to hold any emotions back. “I’ve made so many friends out of ChIPS – and they’re life-long friends.” Michaela, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, plans to do leadership training with ChIPS next year. “I want to run a camp next year.”

with fellow ChIPers

Standing left to right: Rachael Hurley, Stefan Hnativ, Ellie Pateras, Bob Skilton, Judy Sproats, Laura Rowinski, Brian Mallon, Lauren Stewart, Sue Manson, Stacey Brown, Abbie Nade, Helen Carroll, Donna Aranyi Seated left to right: Suna Panicker, Fiona Ballantyne, Annamalai Arunachalam, Michelle Olinder

Thanks to a donation of $50,000 from the Bell Charitable Fund, ChIPS can continue to offer a wide range of activities to people like Michaela.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is grateful to all this year’s donors, big and small. To those who have given gifts under $2,000 we thank you. Special thanks to our major donors who have contributed more than $2,000 – they are listed below.

Major donors

2008 – 09

Bequests

2008 – 09

$13 million+

$20,000+

$5,000+

$2,000+

$2 million+

$50,000+

$10,000+

$2,000+

Good Friday Appeal

Glas, Robert Grantali Pty Ltd MBF Australia Pty Ltd Melbourne Magistrates Court of Victoria Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (Southern Health) Rotary Club of Werribee Walk for the VPPCP Shave for the Brave Southern Health

Armstrong, Robert T Atlas Drilling Bain & Company – Workplace Giving BDO Kendalls Administration (VIC) Pty Ltd Birks, Anthony Bracher Family Caelli Constructions (Vic) Pty Ltd Chesa Investments Pty Ltd Cleland, Heather CSR Building Products Ltd Workplace Giving Dinron Pty Ltd Donaldson, JG Donazzon, John Dyer, George & Maureen Everyday Hero Fire Protection Association Australia HealthWise VIC/TAS Heidelberg Magistrates Court Helix ESG Pty Ltd Hewitt, John Hickory Developments Pty Ltd Institute of Drug Technology Australia Ltd Jechilevsky, Nicole Leslie, Norma Lowe Lippmann Pty Ltd McCraith, Stuart McDonough, John Melbourne Glasgow Rangers Supporters Club Mikaela & Cohen’s Memorial Fund Multicom Consulting Pty Ltd Norwood Industries Pty Ltd Pacific Services Group Pty Ltd Peninsula GP Network Ltd Reece Pty Ltd Renee Harnett Stall for Oncology Research Respond for the Kids Richards, RF & EJ Sampradhaya Schneider, Paul Seek Limited Workplace Giving Shand, Jocelyn M Slumbercare Bedding (Aust) Pty Ltd Starfish Ventures Pty Ltd Stephens, Michael Sullivan, Ron & Norma Sunshine Magistrates’ Court of Victoria Thomas, Megan Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd Walsh, Kevin William Western Emergency Services Team Westpac Matching Gifts Program Zimet, Phillippe

Amcor Australasia Workplace Giving Bagnara Calabra Association of Victoria Bayswater Park Cricket Club Inc BR Wellington Pty Ltd Broadmeadows Magistrates Court Cassons Pty Ltd Cerebral Palsy Support Network Challenge Commercial Interiors Pty Ltd Cooper Investors Pty Ltd Cubby Enterprise Pty Ltd D’Arcy Molan Music Concert Davies, J W Elton, Zelman Filanthropiko Society Firefighters & Affiliates Credit Co‑operative Ltd Fluor Global Services Australia Pty Ltd Georgieski, Suzanna HMAS Orara Minesweepers Association Hospira Australia Pty Ltd Workplace Giving Hourn, Eric Hunter, Scott & D J John Paul College K&S Freighters Pty Ltd Khan, Sabah KPMG Australia – Risk Advisory Services Leopold Sportsmans Club Inc Long Island Country Club Matters, Barry & Lindy Mid City Real Estate Pty Ltd Morwell Magistrates Court Mt Eliza Primary School Nunawading Chiropractic & Podiatry Clinic Family Day Parisi, Mark Retired Firefighters Assoc of Australia (Vic Branch) Rizokarpasso Village RWE Pty Ltd Selak, LM & J Shell Australia Employees – Project Better World Spicer, Roberta Studio (S) Antonia (A) Calabro (C) Pty Ltd The Bays Hospital Group Inc. The Dog Rocks Hotel Pty Ltd The Palais Bingo Centre Pty Ltd Tong, Lau Kam Poon Toybox International Transtyle Automatics United Way Sydney Uplift Events Pty Ltd VAFA Umpires Association Ward, Rohan & Jackie Whittlesea Swap Show & Shine Windsor Co Pty Ltd

Coombs, Marjorie Beryl Moss, Harry Lyon

Aitken, Marjorie Dunn Family Perpetual Trust Smith, Olive Irene Spencer Lionel R V Trust Fund

Aitken, Keith Brown, Ernest L Bryan, Franklin James E C Blackwood Charitable Trust Ernest and Letitia Wears Memorial Trust Fleming, John William Grant Bequest Hughes, Mary Margarita Keith Goods Memorial Trust Marinelli, Basilide McTaggart, Edith Slade, Winifred Millie The Frank & Sybil Richardson Charitable Trust White, Clarice Jean Winder, Emily Vera

Bateu, Janine Black, Gwendoline Madge Burnett, Frederick Charles Burnett, Jessie Carnegie Cowell, Kevin Stewart Grimwade, Alice Marion Jarrett, John Henry Charles John Anderson Trust Joseph & Kate Levi Charitable Trust Lawton, Olive May Margaret Jean Sutton Charitable Trust Marshall, William Marshall, Charlotte Kitty & Harry Ramondt Charitable Trust Sheers, Douglas James Skinner, Stanley George The William & Mary Ievers & Sons Maintenance Fund Tweddle, Joseph Thornton

$300,000+ KOALA Foundation RCH1000 members Special Events Committee

$200,000+ Celebration of Life Handbury AO, Geoff

$100,000+ Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Ltd Leukaemia Research Fund Victorian Medical Insurance Agency Ltd

$50,000+ Children’s Hospital Foundations Australia Glenvale School My Room Inc The Royal Australasian College of Physicians Toys ‘R’ Us (Australia) Pty Ltd

$15,000+ Bluescope Steel Limited Employees (Workplace Giving) Bupa Australia Group Challenge – Supporting Kids With Cancer Elise Sneddon Grand Final Family Day Kingston Heath Golf Club Leah Sarris Tribute Dinner M D Bulmer Soroptimist Appeal Port, Andrew Sri Guru Nanak Satsang Sabha Villawood Management Pty Ltd

$10,000+ ADP employees – Workplace Giving Allan, Brad Australian Red Cross Blood Service Beck AM, Max CAF Community Fund Workplace Giving Coca-Cola Amatil Workplace Giving Gatto, Mick Heggie, Andrew Jemena Limited (Alinta Ltd) Michael’s IGA Supermarket Network Appliance (Australia) Pty Ltd Ng, Beng Hing RACV Great Battery Round Up Vermont Cancer Research Fund Raising Group

$500,000+ Heymanson, Joyce Hudson, Thelma May Short, Ilma Mary Wright, John Hugh

$100,000+ Dorothy Isabel Stirling Charitable Trust Farrell, Avis Amanda King, Bettie Alex Oldfield, Ronald John Pettigrew, Alan Atholstone Redding, Maurice and Winifred Sheridan, Lynette Yvonne Thomson, Jean McDonald

$20,000+ Black, Iris Ella Edith & Don Robinson Charitable Trust Harry Tootal & Eva Broadhurst Memorial Trust Henry B Smith Charitable Trust Macrow, William Maitland, William Arthur Moule, Valma Joyce Norman, Mavis & Graham Waters Charitable Trust Provelson Trust Fund, Peter James Shepherd, Frederick B Smith, Heather Sybil Thallon, Robert Jack Walker, J H Wells, Arthur Donald Whitelaw, Thomas William Wright, John Frederick

$5,000+ Bateman, Frank Hincks Blake, Violet Cochrane, Ethel M A Hannah Parry, Gabrielle Nona John William & Anna Maria Ford Memorial Fund Joseph, Zara Frances Klemke, Leslie Frederick McWilliams, Horatio R C Morgan, David Mathais Murdoch, John S Price, Leigh & May Thompson, Flora Louisa Tomlinson, Alan Stewart Trew, Kevin Francis Wallace, Colin Edgar

Trusts and foundations 2008 – 09 $1 million+

$20,000+

$10,000+

$2,000+

The Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Incorporated

Goldman Sachs JBWere Foundation RACP Research and Education Foundation Telematics Course Development Fund The Angior Family Foundation The Collier Charitable Fund The Financial Markets Foundation For Children The George Castan Family Charitable Trust The Kimberley Foundation Nominees Pty Ltd The Orloff Family Charitable Trust William & Vera Houston Memorial Trust

AMP Foundation Day of Difference Foundation Fred & Vi Lean Charitable Trust Grosvenor Foundation Hills Charity Support Trust Isabella Agnes Pritchard Trust Julian Burton Burns Trust Kilwinning Trust Neville & Di Bertalli & Family Clinical Neurosurgical Trust The Bachrach Charitable Trust The William Angliss (Victoria) Charitable Fund Victorian Community Foundation Felice Rosemary Lloyd Trust

Gary Thomson Foundation Izaak Wolf & Genia Auschwitz Szykman Charitable Foundation Macquarie Group Foundation Limited The Amelia Eliza Holland Trust

$100,000+ Lorenzo & Pamela Galli Charitable Trust

$50,000+ Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation Ltd The Bell Charitable Fund The Children’s Craniofacial Foundation of Australia Ltd The Dyson Bequest

The RCH Foundation is also pleased to acknowledge the support of the John T Reid Charitable Trusts and The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund.

$5,000+ Count Charitable Foundation Herbert William Hampton Trust Leslie Eric Paddle Trust Fund Marjorie Hayes & Olivia Cock Memorial Trust

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

The Foundation receives many donations in loving memory of children, friends and relatives, and in celebration of important life events such as weddings, special birthdays, anniversaries, Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs. Those honoured in this way are listed below.

In honour Abbott, Charlie Adair, Bruce Andrew Aitken, Leslie Alfreda Amarsaikhan, Guamargad Anderson, George Kevin Angelides, Nick Angeloni, Mario Angelopoulos, George Arthur, Charlie Attard, John Ballas, James Barber, Keith James Barke, Milly Bartlett, Darcy Bartlett, Garry, Erryn & Jacinta Bartlett, Maddison Baxter, Carol Marie Baxter, Shirley Benjamin Bergman, Fred Bermann, Jasmine Bertuna, Concettina Berwick, Luke Clive Besanko, Yvonne Besen, Marc & Eva Better, Harry & Pola Bevanda, Mia Zotti Beynsberger, Mia Blackford, Ross Blandin de Chalain, Paul Block, Lana Blume, Jack Blunt, Doris Bock, Jack Bombardieri, Cesare Bonett, Chiara Bordin, Danilo Bornstein, Yvonne Bowden, Joan Marion Bowler, Maxwell Brasch, Harry Leon Brennan, David Briggs, Grace Brott, Jessica Bursztyn, David Bury, Ashton Bury, Lincoln Caldera, Flamer Cameron, Moyra Campbell, Leila Marshall Carrigan, Josephine Carswell, Amelia Charlotte, Duncan Chodan, Melanie Choy, Wei Nam Clancy, Ines Margaret Louise Clark, Peter William Clarke, Pauline Clayton, Oliver Collins, Alice Collins, William Collinson, Fraser Alan Lowes Constable, Isha Coppolino, Tony Corbett, Daniel Cotter, Jesse Cowan, Garry Cowie, Matthew Cromack, Emma Curry, Grace Curtis, Ashley Cusmano, Sabastian Dahiya, Dilraj Danckert, Yamato Darling, Yvonne Davidson, Riley Davies, Brodie Davies, Timnah & Slade, Jaime De La Coeur, Kathleen

De Rose, Issabella De Silva, Samara Delaney, Peggy Delaportas, Spiro Dellios, Natalie Demet, Aleyna & Utku Devitt, Donald Michael Di Marzio, Filomena Dickins, Charlie Dickinson, Olive DiFederico, Margaret Rose Dimatropolous, Anita Dimitropoulos, Mitrona Dimitropoulou, Nita Dodd, Ronald Keith Dodge, Jason Dodge, Judy Donaldson, Rubi Starr Downes, Audrey Doyle, Craig & Barr, Julie Doyle, Liam Duclos, Alice Frances Duncan, Charlotte Paige Duxson, Phyllis Edwards, Olivia Grace Eisenmenger, Carolyn Eleanor, Mary Moss Emmanuele, Giuseppe Emry, Georgia Louise Enticknap, Alyssa Meagan Esposito, Angela Estyn, Anna Looy Falzon, Concetta Family, The Burton Field, Christian Vittorio Finch, Graham Fink, Leo Finucane, Conor Fischer, Rachel Fittje, Connor Fleming, Dean Follett, Doris Ellen Fortunato, Rosina Fraser, David Gaddie, Lotte Gardner, Jean Ellen Gargaro, Francesco Gazzo, Peter Gerali, Siena Isabella Giacomello, Grace Giarrusso, Giovanni Gibbons, Catherine Gibson, Ava Giddings, John Howard Goldman, David & Trayer, Julia Goldstein, Benny Goodall, Dylan Graff, Cyril Grant, Alison Grant, Margaret Greco, Francesco Carlo Greenwood, Rachael Griffiths, Kelly & Healey, Mark Griggs, Mia Gringeri, Vincenzo Hacker, Ian & Kennedy, Sandra Hall, Helen M Hamill, Zoe Hampton, Patricia Mary Hearst, Gary & Susan Heggie, Edna Mabel Hepburn, Stewart George Hernyk, Katelyn Hershan, Alex Hershan, Lachlan Hetherington, Florence Hill, Hazel Hofbauer, Sue Howlett, Molly Jordan

2008 – 09 Huggins, Chad Humphrey, Maisie Hunt, Ian CG Hunt, Walter Hutchens, Cliff & Betty Hynson, Emmerson Isobel Iacono, Bartolo Ide, Sheree Anne Iredale, Sandra Paige Isabella Isgro, Concetta Jackimov, Ava Jacobson, Pippa Jacobson, Zak James, Rueben Janover, Pheonix Jason, Kyle Jayawardena, Abirami Jenkin, Florence Muriel Johnson, Lisa Jane Jones, Gregory Jones, Leila Kakaras, Erifilis Kalavritinos, Konstantinos Kamien, Adam & Ser, Danielle Kamino, Flynn Guillermo Karalis, George & Ketty Katz, Ashley Rebecca Katz, Hayden Kelleher, James Kelly, Patrick John Kennedy, Ian Kennedy, Ross Cameron Kingley, Aviva Knott, Doris Kohn, Rywka Krake, Ethan Krause, Abigail Kung, Chin Lan Yeung Lafauci, Natale Lai, Raymond Le Tischler, Oliver Leggiero, Iride Leotta, Teresa Lethlean, Rosalie Lew, Zelman Li Rosi, Nicoletta (Tina) Liberman, Isaiah Logue, Peter Lopreiato, Giuseppe MacDonald, John Mackay, Cleo Magee, Kathy Mangonis, Ellie Martin, Sapphire Mason, Harold Andrew Materazza, Emily Maude Matheson, Max Cooper McComb, Gregory McCormack, Levi McCraith, Hugh McCusker, Rosanna McEachern, Bonita McFarlane, Colin Douglas Memmolo, Antoinette Mendis, Lakshmi Theckla Mesak, Suzan Mikhail, Daniel Milano, Rosa Milenkovic, Nicholas Jac Milner, Shimi Miraglia, Giuseppe Miranda, Ashish & Akshay Moltisanti, Carmel Monaghan, Braidy Moore, Madeline Eve Morel, Crystal Judith Moriel Formby, Joyce Morra, Giuseppe

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

Morton, Kathleen Moshinsky, Danita Murphy, Brenda Muscat, Alexa Grace Muscat, Nicolina Nagar, Amishaa Neelamegam, Murali Neskakis, Evangelia Newbery, William Newitt, Guy Nguyen thi, Phuong Norman, Jessi & Tyler, Joel O’Dare, Paula Olditch, Baxter Lee Osborne, Roy & Angela Ouizeman, Laeticia Pace, Asher Paterson, Jessie Ena Patinyotis, Arthur Pederson, Ginger Penfold, Carmel Penfold, Mark Phuc, Kim Player, Gladys Irene Pollino, Tristan Popple, Jasper Potts, Hayden Michael Power, Christopher Alan Pozydajew, Lulu Prince, Lochlan Mervyn Prior, Walter Ptasznik, Jack Quarel, Beau Rabie, Tayla Regan, Matt & Bridget Reidy, Tiana Ribarich, Stefano Ribbons, Judy Rickards, Megan Louise Rigby, Joshua Robinett, Marjorie Rockman, Ian Romagnino, Rosa Rotstein, Helena Rotstein, Tia Russel, Rohan Rylance, Emily Sabine, Xavier Ted Salter, Lisa Schmulian, Zahava & Shimi Schwal, Noel Schwarz, Sue Sculli, Carmela Segal, Jona & Kamenetzky, Gemma Seuren, Peter Shami, Christopher Sharma, Aarzoo Sanam Sheridan, Lisa Kate Sherlock, Darcy Sherry, Wally Short, Mavis Silberberg, Karen Simmons, Thomas Singleton, Peggy Smolarski, David Snell, Reginald A Sobey, Christine Sorensen, Robert Howard Spinks, Nicholas Stamatopoulos, John Stanford-Mallia, Cleo Stark, Kieran Stuart, John Michael Stuarts, Peter Stub, Mia Sullivan, Elaine Surace, Rocco Szwider, Chloe Tadinac, Ante

Talko, Liv Tarallo, Teresa Tenace, Angelo Tenson, Dorothy Thiyagarajah, Thiags Thomaidis, Kristiana Thompson, Esther Rose Timms, Nicholas Tommaso, Potter’s Trainor, Brendan Travaglini, John Tronson, Noel Frederick Tsoutouras, Kleanthi Tunne, Thomas Stuart Van der Reyden, Hans Alexander Varigos, Dennis Vayanos, Dimitra Verma, Kesar Virdi, Meher Yuvraj Singh Voege, Doris Jean Von Sanden, Horst Vounakis, John Vukovic, Chamila Wakefield Cousins Walton, John Wan, Samara Watson, Robert Weaver, Irene Weaver, John Henry Whelan, John White, Thurstan Wigginton, Eunice Wilkie, Bernie & Dot Wilks, Gladys & Martyn, Bonnie Willett, Ethan Kayde Krake Winsloe, Tom Will Winton, Michael Wolman, Moish Wong, Bernard Worrall, George Worthy, Adam & Isabelle Wu Chong, Olivia Jade Young, Nick Zuydwyk, Bill

Board of Governors

Committees

Chairman Mr Julian Clarke Chairman, Herald and Weekly Times and Director, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Executive & Finance Mr Julian Clarke (Chair) Professor Christine Kilpatrick Mr Richard Leder Professor Paul Monagle

Deputy Chairman Mr Richard Leder Partner, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Audit and Corporate Risk Management Mr Leon Kempler OAM (Chair) Mr David Huggins Mr Richard Leder Mr Dale McKee (external member)

Mr Tony Beddison AO Chairman, Beddison Group and The Royal Children s Hospital

Dr Hugo Gold Clinical Associate Professor, University of Melbourne and Clinical Director of the Children’s Bioethics Centre, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Mr Geoffrey J Henke AO Former Vice-President Australian Olympic Committee

I would like to make a donation $ Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. and my cheque/money order is attached or my credit card details are: Visa Card number:

Investment Mr Peter Yates (Chair) Mr Stefan Hnativ Mr Richard Leder Mr Brian Mallon Mr Andrew Shelton (external member) Mr Ray King (Sovereign Investments – independent advisor to Committee)

Expiry:

Donate Now Make a secure online donation to RCH

www.rchfoundation.org.au www.rch.org.au Please send me information about leaving a bequest to RCHF

For more information about The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation and it’s fundraising activities, please contact:

Mr Leon Kempler OAM Chairman of Acacia Australia Ltd Digital Harbour Holdings and Tescom Australia

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation 50 Flemington Road, Parkville VIC 3052 Phone + 61 3 9345 5037 Fax + 61 3 9345 6900 E-mail rch.foundation@rch.org.au www.rchfoundation.org.au ABN 15 007 143 142

Name:

RCH1000 Phone + 61 3 9345 5143

Address:

Mr Peter Yates Chairman, Peony Capital General Partnership, The Royal Institution of Australia, The Australian Science Media Centre and Graduate School of Management The University of Melbourne

Date:

donation where you see this button:

Mr Ian Johnson Chairman, Channel Seven Melbourne

Professor Frank Oberklaid OAM Director, Centre for Community Child Health The University of Melbourne and The Royal Children’s Hospital

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Alternatively, you can visit our website to make a secure on line

Fund Distribution Audit Mr David Huggins (Chair) Mr Geoffrey Henke AO Mr Leon Kempler OAM

Professor Paul Monagle Stevenson Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne

Signature:

Mr David Huggins Assistant Director of Student Services Catholic Education Office Melbourne

Mrs Carole Lowen President, The Royal Children’s Hospital Auxiliaries

Cardholder’s name:

Remuneration Mr Julian Clarke (Chair) Mr Richard Leder

Executive Director Mr Brian Mallon

Professor Christine Kilpatrick Chief Executive Officer, The Royal Children’s Hospital

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I would like to receive invitations to special events I would like to receive regular updated on the RCHF activities My preferred method of contact is:

The Royal Children’s Hospital Auxiliaries Phone + 61 3 9345 5188 www.rch.org/rchaux

Phone:

Good Friday Appeal Phone + 61 3 9292 1166 www.goodfridayappeal.com.au

Email:

Volunteers Phone + 61 3 9345 5880 www.rch.org.au/volunteers

Please return this form to: The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation 50 Flemington Road. Partkville VIC. 3052.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne Phone + 61 3 9345 5522 www.rch.org.au Thanks to Design: Ian Clarke, Educational Resource Centre, RCH Photography: Jerry Galea Photography & Educational Resource Centre, RCH Writer: Jane Cafarella Editing Support: Julie Webber, Public Affairs, RCH Print: John Herrod and Associates

The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation Melbourne Our Year in Review

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How you can help You can become part of the wonderful family of RCH Foundation supporters by getting involved. There are many different ways you can assist the Foundation in our fundraising endeavours – make a donation, attend or sponsor special events, hold your own event or join an auxiliary – we have something for everyone! Please use this form to make a donation or contact the Foundation on 9345 5037 to discuss how you may be able to assist us in this very fulfilling and challenging endeavour. The future health and wellbeing of our children rests with each of us. Your fundraising future starts here…

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