Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation makes a historic contribution to Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network to support transformative paediatric healthcare.

14 August 2024 | Time to read: 3 minutes

Thanks to the generous support of Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation’s (SCHF) donors, supporters and partners, SCHF made record contributions of $52 million in fiscal year 2024 towards the front line and future of children’s healthcare, including a historic $50.1 million direct to the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN).

The 33,000 donors who supported SCHF this year, the Movement of Many, will help SCHN to continue delivering world-class clinical excellence, the best possible patient experience, and cutting-edge research that can deliver new therapies and treatments.  

According to Kristina Keneally, CEO of SCHF, this transformative level of fundraising for SCHN will help achieve both immediate effects and long-term impact on the lives of NSW’s sick kids, their families and the clinicians who care for them.

“Whether is it used for new equipment, training and education, groundbreaking research or building state-of-the-art facilities, the generosity of those who gave to support SCHN will provide sick and injured kids with the world-class healthcare they need and deserve,” said Keneally.

As part of the FY24 contributions, SCHF has provided:

• $36.5M towards clinical care including providing innovative new models of care, advanced medical technologies, and setting up new programs and initiatives.   

• $10.9M was directed to research, supporting SCHN’s bench to bedside model, getting new therapies and treatments to patients faster.   

• $4.6M was directed to delivering positive patient experiences and support for families, from child life therapists to art and music therapy.  

“We are fortunate to have a great public health system in New South Wales, but government funding can never meet all of the demand or all of the opportunity in kids’ health. Philanthropy plays a crucial role in ensuring the 159,000 sick kids who are under the care of SCHN each year have access to the highest standard of care, no matter where, no matter what,” Keneally said.

SCHF is also proud to have raised $75 million to finalise its philanthropic commitment to support the redevelopment of both the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

SCHF was also able to raise an additional $5.4 million in gift-in-kind support, from medical equipment to art supplies.  

Always looking to stay ahead of the curve, philanthropy has helped harnessed innovation, collaboration and creativity to develop new ideas and find new approaches to complex paediatric health challenges:

• Thanks to a generous bequest, SCHF was able to fund a breakthrough project to help children with conditions such as craniosynostosis, where the sutures of the skull have fused prematurely. Traditional techniques involve making a large incision across the top of the head, removing the bone and reshaping it. Now neurosurgeons and paediatric plastic surgeons across Sydney Children's Hospitals Network have been trained in an innovative new approach using smaller incisions to remove a strip of bone and make a new suture, allowing the brain to grow and moulding the shape of the child's head externally with helmets. This gives patients shorter recovery times and fewer adverse side effects.  

• Groundbreaking research in precision health has also been made possible through philanthropic support from the Lenity Foundation, giving two innovative projects vital seed funding. The GENEie project has identified a unique method to meta-analyse genetic sequences and leads a paradigm shift in the diagnosis of genetic disorders and inherited cancers. The STOP2 Study aims to improve the lifetime outcomes of children with Tuberous Sclerosis, by early treatment with mTOR inhibitors that target the underlying genetic pathway. Many more translational research projects are also now underway at Kids Research thanks to SCHF and the Movement of Many, creating transformational changes in kids’ health now and fir future generations.

SCHF is the exclusive fundraising partner of SCHN, which includes Sydney's two children's hospitals (Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick and The Children's Hospital at Westmead), specialised care services (Bear Cottage and the Newborn and paediatric Emergency Transport Service [NETS]) and Kids Research.