Our guest speaker this week was Nadine Magill who is the CEO of Camp Quality.Nadine is a fundraising specialist, originally from Northern Island. Her first job in Australia was raising funds for Camp Quality, then she worked on the capital campaign for the Ronald McDonald House in Nedlands, before returning to Camp Quality as a member of the National Leadership Team.
Camp Quality was conceived 32 years ago during a conversation between a volunteer and a paediatric oncologist that concluded that while the ‘quantity’ of a child’s life may suffer, that didn’t mean their quality of life had to suffer too.
Basically the concern for the hospital volunteer was that the kids in the oncology ward were not experiencing “childhood”. The result was the setting up of camps running for 1 or 3 days, for these age ranges: 4-6yo, 7-9yo, and 10-13yo. Applecross Rotary partners with South of Perth Yacht Club to provide one of these events – Cruising Butterflies!
It soon became apparent that not only were the sick children impacted by cancer, but so were their siblings, parents and grandparents. As well as reaching out to support them, Camp Quality also organised camps for family groups, so the mums and dads could meet one another.
More recently, Camp Quality has expanded its offerings to support kids whose parents or grandparents have cancer, connecting them to other kids in the same situation.
Camp Quality has developed two Apps: one is a kids guide to cancer, and the other is a “New Normal Transition Navigator” which can connect to services available to support kids and families after the kids leave hospital.
Camp Quality also organises puppet shows for schools that show how a kid with cancer can be welcomed back to school while having a respite from treatment.
During the Q&A Nadine said that COVID-19 had severely impacted running fundraising events, which are the main source of funding for Camp Quality – she estimated a loss of 60% so far this year: something for all of us to consider.
Basically the concern for the hospital volunteer was that the kids in the oncology ward were not experiencing “childhood”. The result was the setting up of camps running for 1 or 3 days, for these age ranges: 4-6yo, 7-9yo, and 10-13yo. Applecross Rotary partners with South of Perth Yacht Club to provide one of these events – Cruising Butterflies!
It soon became apparent that not only were the sick children impacted by cancer, but so were their siblings, parents and grandparents. As well as reaching out to support them, Camp Quality also organised camps for family groups, so the mums and dads could meet one another.
More recently, Camp Quality has expanded its offerings to support kids whose parents or grandparents have cancer, connecting them to other kids in the same situation.
Camp Quality has developed two Apps: one is a kids guide to cancer, and the other is a “New Normal Transition Navigator” which can connect to services available to support kids and families after the kids leave hospital.
Camp Quality also organises puppet shows for schools that show how a kid with cancer can be welcomed back to school while having a respite from treatment.
During the Q&A Nadine said that COVID-19 had severely impacted running fundraising events, which are the main source of funding for Camp Quality – she estimated a loss of 60% so far this year: something for all of us to consider.