Mater Giving Day is a day to express gratitude, give support, contribute and make a difference.
Read how funds raised will help make a difference in the community.

Shelley Bishop

Former Mater cancer patient

At 29 years old, Shelley Bishop was down 45kg and in the best shape of her life—guiding her 60,000-strong Shred with Shelley's social media community on how to do the same. 

A year later, she’d had a tumour above her collarbone removed and was enduring her fourth round of chemotherapy.

Mater is important to her, as they were a second family while she was undergoing cancer treatment, and she is so grateful for that. 

On Mater Giving Day, your donations will be tripled. Helping Mater patients like Shelley live the best life they possibly can. 

Carla Sikes and baby Ethan

"Ethan was born at 27 weeks… he had in-utero surgery to repair his severe spina bifida defect at 24 weeks gestation, and it truly was miracle surgery.

"We all hoped I would remain pregnant for longer, but when Ethan was born so prematurely, Dr Pita Birch said to me, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll look after you and your baby’, and we held onto that the entire time.

"All of the doctors didn’t just save our baby boy, they gave him a life. That’s why we support Mater Giving Day." 

Professor Maher Gandhi

Executive Director Mater Research

"Clinical research is the reason healthcare advances, but no medical breakthrough is possible without time, patience, incredible dedication, and of course, funding.

"Throughout my medical career, I’ve witnessed some of the greatest tragedies. But I’ve also witnessed some of the greatest recoveries—patients who’ve gone on to live healthy lives through breakthrough treatments they wouldn’t have had access to if they’d been diagnosed even just months earlier.

"That’s the power of medical research, and that’s why I support Giving Day."

Natalie Dixon

Ovarian cancer patient

"After a scan revealed an avocado-sized tumour on my ovary, they passed me onto the Mater, and that was the best thing that could have happened.

"After nine hours in surgery, I woke up to discover they’d had to take pretty much everything I didn’t need to survive, and they told me I had stage 3a ovarian cancer.

"My cancer journey is far from over, but I’m still here because of the Mater. That’s why I support Giving Day."

Ash Mondolo

Breast care nurse

"I meet some women on the hardest days of their lives.

"Breast cancer never comes at a very convenient time, it’s often a huge shock, and it completely upends their lives—whether they're mums of young children or women who are towards the end of their career, due to retire and planning big holidays.

"I support Mater Giving Day because I know that funding equals research. Research that incorporates prevention, earlier detection, management and treatments.

"With your help, we can improve the care and outcomes for these brave and beautiful women that I care for every, single day."