Play the video Costs of this appeal have been covered by untied funding, making it possible for 100% of your donation by 31 December to support cancer research.
Donate to help bring colour and hope to kids like Ollie
On December 17, your gift became TWICE AS NICE!
Thank you to the generous group of supporters who donated to our Matched Giving Day campaign, "Twice As Nice".
Incredibly, we have exhausted the $40k pool of matched funding which means we've together raised $80k today for cancer research and our matching campaign for our festive appeal has ended.
This special festive opportunity is made possible by Team XTreme and other generous ACRF supporters committed to funding brilliant cancer research across Australia.
Ollie, diagnosed with an aggressive cancer at age six, found solace in creating art.
Meet Ollie
At just six years old, Ollie’s world was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma – a rare and aggressive form of tissue cancer. In an instant, this vibrant, playful boy found himself facing a struggle no child should ever have to endure.
For the past two years, Ollie has undergone gruelling treatments that would challenge even the strongest adult. Intense chemotherapy sessions, countless hospital stays, and the constant uncertainty of what each new day might bring.
But through it all, Ollie found an unexpected source of comfort and healing: art.
Ollie expressed his complex emotions through art
It began with simple doodles during long hours of treatment. Soon, Ollie discovered a unique technique he calls “bubble art” – a drawing method he uses to tell stories using vibrant, abstract patterns. This creative outlet became Ollie's way of expressing the complex emotions any child would struggle to communicate.
"On his toughest days, when the pain and fear seem overwhelming, Ollie turns to his art." Naomi shares. "It's as if each colourful bubble he creates is a small act of defiance against the cancer."
A healing journey
Ollie's healing journey through creativity mirrors the innovative approach we need to continue funding cancer research.
Just as Ollie is thinking outside the lines with his bubble technique, brilliant researchers are doing the same to find breakthrough solutions for cancer.
We know that to tackle a disease as complex and relentless as cancer, we need to continue to fund trail-blazing ideas that think well outside the lines of traditional research.
“There are no words to describe the pain Nathan and I have felt. But watching Ollie create his ’bubble art’ – it’s like he’s found a way to express what words can’t.” – Naomi, Ollie’s mum
Creativity delivers lifesaving cancer research breakthroughs
Some of Australia’s most brilliant scientific minds now have the tools and technology they need to explore extraordinary ideas and blaze new trails.
Securing funding for bold, innovative ideas in cancer research can sometimes be challenging. It can be very hard to find anyone brave enough to back an unproven idea with seed funding, no matter how exceptional. A disease as complex and relentless as cancer requires thinking outside the lines of traditional research.
ACRF’s highly esteemed Medical Research Advisory Committee carefully evaluates each project, identifying trail-blazing ideas with the highest potential for success. This approach allows us to kickstart brilliant research that might otherwise never be realised.
ACRF backs the most extraordinary, dial-shifting cancer research in the world.
ACRF-funded researchers are pushing boundaries with innovative approaches.
From liquid biopsies for less invasive monitoring of childhood cancer to next-gen microscopes revealing tumour secrets, creative thinking is accelerating progress towards a world without cancer.
Seeing the unseen in cancer
At the ACRF Centre for Intravital Imaging of Niches for Cancer Immune Therapy (INCITe) housed at Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, researchers are using world-first intravital microscope technology inspired by astrophysics to visualise cancer cells in ways never before possible, allowing us to see deep inside tissues and tumours.
So far, INCITe has achieved phase two clinical trials for pancreatic cancer based on new insights, and hosted the first Australian Intravital Microscopy Symposium. INCITe has secured additional funding based on these promising results.
Thinking outside the lines for deep tissue cancer targeting
The research at the ACRF Child Cancer Liquid Biopsy Program at Children's cancer Institute (CCI) develops liquid biopsy techniques to revolutionise how to diagnose and monitor childhood cancers, offering a less invasive and more effective way to track treatment progress. The program is working towards ZERO deaths from childhood cancer.
The program has so far built specialised labs and trained experts in paediatrics liquid biopsy, expanding to help more children. They have pioneered advanced profiling for five key childhood cancer types.
After years of gruelling treatment, little Ollie is looking forward to his first festive season free of cancer treatments and hospital visits. Please help build a world where no child has to face cancer.