Helping people affected by cancer
Thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts of our Dry July participants every year, the Dry July Foundation is able to fund projects and programs that improve the comfort and wellbeing of people affected by cancer.
Everything we fund is to benefit cancer patients and their families and carers. We aim to make a difficult time, a little easier for those affected by cancer.
Where the money goes
Organisations we support
The Dry July Foundation is proud to support numerous cancer organisations across Australia. Some of the organisations who benefit from our fundraising include:
To see the full list of cancer support organisations we fund, please click here.
Reflected legacy at Liverpool Hospital - funded by Dry July
Reflected legacy is a groundbreaking arts and health program at Liverpool Hospital. Led by visual artist Flutter Lyon, this project compliments the holistic care of cancer patients in palliative care, while enhancing and changing the physical environment for patients, families and staff on the ward.
Why the program exists
Connection.insight.healing.
When we tell our stories, it gives us a way of sharing and reflecting upon the life we are living, free expression and story telling offers a deepened sense of connection to the value and meaning of our individual and shared life experiences.
It can bring comfort, celebration and beauty during challenging time in our lives, encouraging the recall of memories and key points in our life that we...
Tonya's story
This year Tonya celebrates 30 years since she was first treated for breast cancer at Westmead in 1987. She was diagnosed with another breast cancer in 2014 and is still going strong.
She has been blown away by some of the things that have been purchased with Dry July funds and would have loved to have had those things when she was undergoing treatment. She was very impressed with the new treatment gowns for breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy and said that would have made such a big difference at the time she was having treatment and remembered how difficult it was with the old hospital gowns. When she had her chemotherapy she had a hard backed uncomfortable chair that she had to sit in for hours. She was in awe of the...
Roberta's story
Roberta has been a long term patient at the Canberra Hospital and the Canberra Region Cancer Centre. It was a second cancer diagnosis 11 year years ago of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma just after coming to Canberra to live, which has resulted in her receiving ongoing treatment this whole time.
After extensive chemotherapy and then a stem cell transplant, Roberta’s immune system was compromised which means she comes into the centre every month to receive maintenance treatment.
Roberta has seen the changes within the hospital and move into the Canberra Region Cancer Centre over 3 years ago. She appreciates the services that are offered from the volunteers especially the tea service. Roberta could not speak highly enough of the staff and support...
John's story
John Brown is one of the early patients of the North West Cancer Centre, located in Burnie Tasmania which opened officially in May 2016. Living in Sheffield, Tasmania, John travelled some distance to access and receive chemotherapy and radiation treatment – about 130 kilometres each day. His wife who often accompanied John to his treatment waited many hours supporting her husband.
If it wasn’t for his wife, John felt that in a couple of years time he could have been dead. He had received a bowel screening test and had thrown it aside with the other he had received twelve months earlier. His wife Anne kept on asking him if he had done the test and said to do it. To shut her up he did it and it came back positive for both samples. A...
Pauline's story
Choices Cancer Support program is pleased to announce we are included as a new beneficiary for the Dry July campaign. Below is Pauline’s story which demonstrates the integrated programs of Choices and the ways it supports Queenslanders facing cancer.
Why choose the Wesley’s Choices Cancer Support Centre?
Prior to my diagnosis, I had worked to help others in the Choices programs for many years, with Kim Walters Foundation and Think Pink. Choices, offered me the choices I needed to get me through this ‘Journey’…
I was 41 when my doctor said those words (that echo as much today as on that day) “You have breast cancer”, that was 11th June 2013. I am very lucky to have an extremely supportive husband and two beautiful, then pre-teen...
Nilla's story
Nilla is vibrant and kind-hearted; however, like many of us, she was content with how life was. That was until her diagnosis; an experience she attributes to changing her life…
On the 19th October 2004, I heard the words that I never wanted or thought I would ever hear “Nilla, you have Breast Cancer”.
My Breast Cancer diagnosis should have and could have stopped me from doing, being, and achieving. However, the journey has been life changing and with the help of John my husband, family, and friends, I am proud to say that I am a twelve plus year thriver.
I knew I had to face my Breast Cancer challenge head on and do whatever it took to stay alive.
I was introduced to Solaris Cancer Care when undergoing my Radiotherapy treatment at Sir...
Bruce's feedack
Dry July helped Royal North Shore Hospital purchase 7 new treatment chairs for the day unit.
The patients who receive their treatment in these chairs regularly tell the Nursing staff how much more comfortable they are when they have to sit in them for hours on end. The Nurses also report that the chairs have improved patient safety and allow them to administer treatment more easily.
"These chairs are heaven compared to the old ones. They've made a long day of treatment much more comfortable and they're so much easier to get on and off as well. The nurses love them as it is easier and safer for them to treat us.
Bruce 79 years
Mike's story
This year, funds raised through Dry July will go towards renovating patient waiting areas into interactive spaces to make the sometimes 5 hour waiting periods pass a little easier and installing more comfortable seating.
A patient who has recently spent a considerable amount of time at the PA cancer centre is Mike Stott who had to relocate to Brisbane for treatment of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue. By supporting Dry July at the PA Hospital, you are helping to ensure patients like Mike feel as comfortable as possible at the hospital during such a difficult time in their lives.
Here is Mike’s story…
Mike Stott, a Cartographer from Cairns, noticed that a lump in the left side of his neck had formed during August 2016. He wasn’t...
Horticultural therapy
“I always loved gardening, yet through stresses of ill-health, I felt I had lost my passion for it.”
Like many people undergoing a cancer diagnosis and treatment, Christine Fousketakis struggled to get through every day, and things she had loved doing, like gardening, became a thing of the past.
Diagnosed with breast cancer, Christine underwent a rigorous treatment plan at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre (ONJ Centre) including surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
Christine visits the ONJ Centre twice each week and takes part in many wellness and supportive care programs including horticultural therapy, which is funded by Dry July.
Gardening is a wonderful way to connect with nature and enjoy the present...