Golden Gift for Kids

A Hills-based Foundation has just announced a $10million gift to fund a new Cancer Centre for Children at The Children’s Hospital, Westmead.

It’s the largest gift ever made by the Kids with Cancer Foundation at Castle Hill in its 26 year history and is one of the largest gifts received by the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF) to date.

The new Cancer Centre for Children will offer support for new cancer diagnoses, along with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplants, clinical trials and long-term follow-up.

The space will cater to both in-patients and day treatments, along with a new 24/7 virtual care service for outpatients. There will be dedicated family and parent spaces, increased room numbers and sizes, access to outdoor spaces and even facilities for parents to work from the hospital.

The announcement was made at the Kids with Cancer Foundation’s fundraising Gold Dinner on Wednesday, 2nd May.

Todd Prees, CEO of KWCF said: “This new cancer centre will bring together diagnosis, cutting edge learning and research, together with exceptional clinical care. Most importantly, families will have single rooms, and spaces which will wrap around the child and their family.

“When we reviewed the plans for the new Cancer Centre at Westmead, one of our Board members, whose child – Willam Smith, died from cancer in 2018, said immediately ‘this will make all the difference” for the families.”

Kristina Keneally, CEO of SCHF said: “A gift of this size has the potential to create giant strides in the research and treatment of childhood cancer and will have a significant impact on the outcome of kids’ health now, and for years to come.

“The new Cancer Centre for Children at Westmead would not be possible without the support of KWCF. (Our) partnership goes back over 25 years and over those years KWCF has provided over $18 million of support for Randwick, Westmead and Bear Cottage.”

Dr Luciano Dalla-Pozza, Director Cancer Centre for Children said: “In Australia, there are approximately 1,000 children who are diagnosed with cancer every year. It is clear that the incidence of cancer in children is slowly rising, and whilst we’ve made significant advancements in the treatment … there is still a way to go.

“We need research. We need education. We need providers of care. All three are absolutely essential and need to be housed close together, where they can feed off each other and provide the children with every chance of cure.”

Kids with Cancer Foundation has also committed $500,000 to The Children’s Hospital, Randwick to fund the Oncology family lounge, outdoor area and overnight area at the new Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

The Kids with Cancer Foundation funds hospitals and oncology staff at all children’s hospitals around Australia as well as offer direct financial support to families, Care Packs, Wigs4Kids and also funds research.