Talk Like A Pirate Day is the official fundraising and awareness day and signature event of Childhood Cancer Support – Australia’s oldest children’s cancer charity. For 45 years, this community organisation has provided accommodation, transport and support services to regional families whose children are diagnosed with cancer.
The national event, on Saturday 19 September, 2020, encourages participants to dress up and ‘talk like a pirate’ to raise awareness and funds for children affected by childhood cancers and leukaemia.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Childhood Cancer Support has worked tirelessly to keep all doors to their facilities open, providing a safe and supportive space for the immune-compromised children who are undergoing rigorous cancer treatments, or check-ups, at a great distance from their homes in regional communities.
Childhood Cancer Support General Manager, Helen Crew, said that this year has been an incredibly difficult one for our families.
“Our families, and the charity, are all doing it tough. There is so much uncertainty, but the one thing we know is that despite the pandemic, children continue to be diagnosed with cancer. We are happy that we can continue to offer our light-hearted way to get the community involved in the fight against childhood cancer with our Talk Like A Pirate Day event,” Helen said.
With a child diagnosed with cancer in Australia every 14 hours (more than 600 per year), Childhood Cancer Support needs the help of the community more than ever this year.
More than 800 workplaces, schools and childcare centres throughout Australia are dressing up in their best pirate gear for some swash-buckling fun to raise vital funds for Childhood Cancer Support.
Given the restrictions that this year’s COVID-19 pandemic has placed on inviting media to a broader event, we have prepared two video messages of thanks from families currently residing at the long-term family units. Please watch and hear from Gold Coast Mother Cassandra and her daughter Rose and twin, Lily, aged 4:
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
