The City of Sydney recently hosted a very special visitor, with Santa Claus doing some early Christmas shopping to help children who’ll spend much of the holiday season in hospital.
The man in red picked up some premium presents at toy shops in the city, Paddington and Pyrmont to bring Christmas cheer to those who need it the most.
The City of Sydney invited Santa Claus to make the trip from the North Pole to highlight the work of this year’s Christmas charity partner, The Kids’ Cancer Project.
Santa handed the very special gifts over to Oscar the bear for final delivery to the kids in hospital.
The Kids’ Cancer Project is an independent national charity that supports cutting edge childhood cancer research. It’s currently funding 35 medical research projects across 22 institutes Australia-wide.
City of Sydney CEO, Monica Barone, said the charity’s work could offer a lifeline to children diagnosed with aggressive forms of cancer and the ongoing impacts of treatment.
“We all want to think of kids spending Christmas Eve counting down the minutes until they can open their presents, but for some children and their families, the festive season looks very different,” Ms Barone said.
The Kids’ Cancer Project’s vision is for 100% survival of all Australian children diagnosed with cancer and believes the best way to ensure this is through funding scientific research.
Since 2004 it has raised more than $50 million and wants to increase that number by a further $25 million over the next five years.
The Kids’ Cancer Project founder, Col Reynolds OAM, said science and research was the best hope of finding new treatment options for the disease.
“Cancer kills more children each year than any other disease, with approximately 950 Australian children aged under 19 diagnosed annually,” Mr Reynolds said.
“As many as 90% of those who survive will develop one or more chronic health conditions as a result of current treatment regimens.
“The Kids’ Cancer Project not only wants to increase survival rates of childhood cancer, but by funding innovative research, we hope new treatments will be discovered that will be kinder, gentler and overall better for growing bodies so kids that are diagnosed can survive and thrive.”
Ms Barone said the City of Sydney was proud to throw its support behind the charity.
“For families affected by cancer it can be a difficult time of year, and we hope our support will encourage more people to donate,” Ms Barone said.
In 2022 the charity is planning to fund more than 8 new projects, including research into reducing the long-term effects of chemotherapy, customising radiation therapy to treat brain cancer and a number of clinical trials.
To find out more, visit The Kids’ Cancer Project.
For Media B-Roll go to: https://fx.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/?ShareToken=BB461D13F473065F5341673A3EBF39258B3E51EE
For Santa images go to: https://fx.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/?ShareToken=60EA6A785F130D6B343D80957EC692D9566F54D1
For The Kids’ Cancer Project images go to: https://thekidscancerproject.canto.global/b/KROPG
For City of Sydney media enquiries or images or interviews, contact Nicky Breen on 0436 599 861 or email nbreen@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For The Kids’ Cancer Project media enquiries or images or interviews, Jennie Smiedt on 0403 084 589 or email jennie@tkcp.org.au
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