Another successful year for Phil’

The Arc fundraising initiative has raised more than $96,000 for Child Life & Music Therapy at Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Now in its ninth year of moving and shaking, volunteers and teams came together for fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Phil’ is grateful to the whole UNSW community for their ongoing support, from Future Students hosting a huge Phil’ barbecue at Open Day, Estate Management facilitating an enormous lost property sale in T2, to the Kensington Colleges running an epic Jam in a Jar gig night.

The pinnacle event on the Phil’ calendar is the Fun-A-Thon where teams of students completed 24-hour challenges on campus. This year, there were 35 teams, 250 participants and 75 volunteers who made sure every hourly challenge ran like clockwork. Challenges included Dares for Donations where students were dared to shave an eyebrow, hold a cockroach or eat super spicy noodles for a fundraising target. There was a midnight disco, sunrise walk and a full campus scavenger hunt. Child therapists also ran a life-sized game of Operation, a highlight among our medicine students. 

Fun-A-Thon was led by current student Shay Titus (second year Masters of Construction Project Management & Property Development), who reflected on the event.

“Fun-A-Thon is a reminder that making a difference doesn’t have to be serious – it can be joyful, a little silly and full of heart. Every laugh, every game, every tired but happy face at 3am reminds me why we do what we do. Seeing the UNSW community rally together for one cause reminds me of how powerful we are when kindness meets action,” he said.

This year felt extra special as the pedestrian bridge between UNSW and Randwick Health Campus brought our connection to Sydney Children’s Hospital even closer. Staff from the Child Life & Music Therapy team are grateful for the support of Phil’ which helped them fund permanent positions in their team so they can continue helping sick children through music and play.

Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Phil’ and they can’t wait to be bigger and better. If you would like to get involved or have a fundraising idea, email the Phil’ team: phil@arc.unsw.edu.au.