The Sony Foundation's annual event has raised a record $1.1-million in Sydney last week.
Aussie rock legend Daryl Braithwaite and some of Sony Music’s biggest acts like Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Mark Vincent, Marina Prior and UK hit singer Rag’n’Bone Man performed in support of youth cancer program ‘You Can’ at Sony Foundation's biggest annual fundraiser, Wharf4Ward on Thursday October 27. helping to raise a record $1.1 million for ‘You Can’.
Richard Wilkins led a celebrity line up of Wharf4Ward hosts including, Samantha Armytage, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Angela Bishop, Natarsha Belling and Adam Peacock.
The event saw Sony Foundation take over the line-up of restaurants along Woolloomooloo Wharf as over 800 guests from business, politics, media, celebrities and sport set rivalries aside to all come together to be part of Sydney’s longest lunch.
Wharf4Ward raised funds for Sony Foundation’s youth cancer program, You Can. Created by Sony Foundation to fill a gap between adult and paediatric cancer care in Australia, You Can is raising funds to build specialised youth cancer centres for 15-25 year olds. In the five years since You Can’s inception, Sony Foundation has donated $1.8 million to build Australia’s first You Can Centre in Perth, opened a second You Can Centre in Melbourne earlier this year with a $1.5 million donation and is currently building a third centre in Sydney. A Brisbane centre is under negotiation. Additionally, Sony Foundation is now fundraising to build Australia’s first youth Oncofertility Centre.
Sony Foundation’s new You Can Oncofertility centre to be built at Randwick will enable young cancer patients to have access to important fertility treatment in a specialist clinic immediately after their diagnosis. This service will be provided totally free of charge saving these young patients thousands of dollars in preservation treatment in the private IVF clinics.
Sony Foundation CEO, Sophie Ryan said, “Improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment in patients of a reproductive age, has led to significant improvements in survival rates, however 1 in 10 patient’s fertility will be affected by cancer treatment. As survival rates improve, there is an expectation that a patient’s reproductive potential should be considered and protected but fertility preservation remains a major gap in cancer management which has a lifelong implication for cancer survivors. In Australia, oncofertility care is not integrated into standard clinical practice nationally. Funds towards the Sydney Oncofertility Centre will give patients the opportunity for referral and uptake of fertility preservation consultation and fertility related psychological support.”
Ryan added, "We are thrilled with the record-breaking outcome of this year’s Wharf4ward. All of Sydney joined together for a very worthy cause. This will go a long way in establishing further You Can Centres and funding our You Can Oncofertility Centre in Sydney."
Held across all six restaurants at Woolloomooloo Wharf, Wharf4Ward receives incredible support from Otto, China Doll, Kingsley's, Manta, Criniti's and Aki's. Now in its eighth year, the event has raised over $5.5-million to date. Since its inception in 1998, Sony Foundation has raised over $26 million.