This year’s Sydney Sick Kids Appeal has wrapped up, with the community coming together to raise an incredible $14,611,420.10 to help sick kids across NSW and beyond. Thanks to the enormous generosity of our donors – businesses, community groups and individuals – who went all in for kids’ health, SCHF can fund world-class treatment, research and experiences for sick kids across the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, comprising Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Bear Cottage, NETS and Kids Research.  

Sydney Sick Kids Appeal launched on Monday 6 May with The Paused Playground, an exciting activation at Customs House Forecourt. An oversized bronzed playground stood frozen in time, representing how every child in hospital is a childhood on hold. Augmented reality allowed visitors to scan a QR code to donate and bring the playground to life, showing how we can press play on childhood together. We were also excited to kick off Sydney Sick Kids Appeal by announcing our first SCHF ambassador, Emma Watkins, also known as Emma Memma, who joined us at our Paused Playground to officially announce her new role.  

On Thursday 6 June we celebrated Sydney Sick Kids Day, which raised an amazing $8.3 million and involved celebrations across The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, a community activation in Parramatta and a donation takeover at all the major CBD train stations. We finished off the day with ACCOR stadium illuminated in SCHF purple to show support for sick kids across NSW. Thanks to the enormous generosity of an anonymous matched giver, donations to the value of $250,000 made between Thursday 6 and Sunday 9 June were doubled. Thanks also to Silent Sounds, Alpaca People, Dashing, Torch, FRNSW and more who made the day such a success. Read more about Sydney Sick Kids Day.  

Our partners in Kids’ Health, the Sydney Swans, supported Sydney Sick Kids Appeal through our SCHF Charity Match Day on Sunday 9 June. There were SCHF activities outside the stadium, including face painting, spin-to-win games, our Paused Playground activation and, thanks to Torch Media, hundreds of volunteers collecting donations at train stations, raising awareness for Sydney Sick Kids Appeal. The fun continued inside the SCG with options to round up or tap to donate at all food and beverage outlets thanks to Merivale, and $1 from every purchase of a special SCHF menu item, ‘Zayn's chicken tenders and chips’ was donated to SCHF. At quarter time we ran a stadium-wide competition to win free popcorn, with the crowd joining us to make the heart hands symbol for sick kids for their chance to win.  We were also able to include some of our wonderful patient families in the game day, providing them with money-can't-buy experiences like joining the guard of honour to start the game. Nine-year-old Zayn was invited to be the Swans Junior Mascot for game day, running the team out onto the field while his family watched proudly from the guard of honour, and 8-year-old Cooper kicked the game off with the coin toss!

Over the last six weeks, we have shared some of the stories of the kids we support, and why your generosity enables Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network to deliver such outstanding care. One of these kids is 14-year-old Artaban, who fell 15 metres down a cliff face in November 2023, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Artaban was rushed to Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, where a team of surgeons, consultants and other clinical staff raced to save his life. While he spent almost a month in an induced coma and went through six surgeries for his complex injuries, his parents were comforted by staff and felt supported, despite the extremely difficult situation they faced. Artaban woke from his coma on Christmas Eve, and due to the excellent care he received by the team at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, is back home, back at school and looking forward to a bright future.  

The outstanding care given to kids like Artaban and the 159,000 kids who visit Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead or Bear Cottage each year, and for those transported by the Newborn and paediatric Transport Service or benefitting from the work of Kids Research, is enabled by generous donations to Sydney Sick Kids Appeal, which go to clinical positions, research and training of staff across Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.  

This year we also celebrated our tenth anniversary of support from Channel Seven, our longstanding media partner for the Sydney Sick Kids Appeal. Channel Seven went all in for kids’ health by joining us for key moments over the last six weeks, including telling Artaban’s story, crossing live from both Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead on Sydney Sick Kids Day, and coming on-field with us at our Sydney Swans x SCHF Match Day. We’re grateful to the entire Channel Seven team and especially Natalie Barr, Matt Shirvington, Mark Ferguson and Mel McLaughlin who all generously gave their time to meet and bring smiles to the faces of the sick kids and families that SCHF supports. 

We also appreciate the ongoing support of ARN and the WSFM team who joined us again this year in helping raise awareness of Sydney Sick Kids Appeal, spreading the donation message far and wide throughout Sydney and NSW. Every child in hospital is a childhood on hold and with ARN’s support and encouragement of the community to donate and support Sydney Sick Kids Appeal, we’re one step closer to helping sick kids press play on their childhoods again.   

Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and helped with this year’s Sydney Sick Kids Appeal. Your generosity will make a significant difference in the lives of sick kids being treated by Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network now, and for generations to come.  

There's still time to donate to our Sydney Sick Kids Appeal. Click the button below to make a tax-deductible donation before Sunday 30 June and help take a childhood off hold.