Previous Events
Happy 20th Anniversary Northcare!
A special fundraising dinner was held on November 3, 2017 to celebrate Northcare’s 20 Year Anniversary. Old and new friends of the Foundation joined together at Deckhouse, Woolwich to enjoy a delicious meal and an evening of informative and entertaining presentations, led by the MC for the evening, Dr Ray Raper, Northcare board member and Head of Royal North Shore’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) .
The evening started with welcome drinks and canapés accompanied by a delightful strings performance by the Australian Youth Orchestra’s Geist Quartet.
Guests were then seated at tables decorated with sculptures, creatively produced by ICU nursing and medical staff using expired disposables and broken equipment that had been destined for the bin.
In the weeks prior to the dinner a hotly contested competition had been held for the most innovative sculpture. The judging was held on October 30 by board members Mrs Jill Henry and Dr Ray Raper.
The evening’s formalities included the unveiling of the Northcare Foundation Honour Board, acknowledging the invaluable contributions of the major benefactors over the last two decades. This will be displayed in the waiting room of Royal North Shore’s ICU.
This board honours the RNSH Intensive Care Specialist group, Ramsay Health Care, Barry Lambert, Joy Lambert, TK Tong, Raymond, Beatrice and K.C. Leung. Elizabeth and John Stoker and Denis Hanley AM
Several board members spoke passionately of why they have supported the Foundation over the years and the greatest achievements of the charity were reviewed. Of these the ongoing support for the Nursing Education Scholarships was showcased. Northcare board member, Mr Frank Zipfinger, proudly announced the 21 scholarship recipients for 2017. An acceptance speech by ICU nurse Ms Jess Butler followed during which she spoke about the important role this support has played in developing the Nurse Practitioner program within the ICU over recent years. She invited guests to come and speak with her and some of her nursing colleagues about this role at the mock ICU bed space she had created in a corner of the function room, complete with a patient receiving life support on a ventilator.
See our Research page for more information.
Mr Alex Slattery, RNSH Nurse of the Year for 2017 and previous scholarship recipient, provided a heart felt explanation of the way the scholarships are enabling nurses to pursue further education that is directly benefiting patients and families throughout the hospital. Finally Mr Philip Castleton spoke poignantly about his young daughter Ingrid’s journey through the ICU after experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest due to an electrical problem with her heart. He expressed gratitude to the staff of Royal North Shore’s ICU in ‘giving him his little girl back’ and, as a professional photographer, presented a beautiful photomontage of his images of the daily work of ICU staff.
The Foundation was absolutely delighted with the extraordinary generosity of all who contributed to the significant proceeds raised by the event – through specific donations, participation in the wonderful silent auction organised by Northcare board member Mrs Jill Henry and the popular ‘guessing competition’ whereby the number of patients saved by Royal North Shore’s ICU over the last 20 years was hotly contested. The winner received two tickets to the Luna Park Ferris wheel dining experience. It is only through this material support by the many friends of Northcare that we have reached this 20 year milestone!
Finally, the Foundation wishes to acknowledge the energetic work of the organising committee for the event; Mrs Jill Henry, Mr Frank Zipfinger, Dr Carole Foot and Dr Liz Hickson.
