Windows on Pain Events
Exhibition Opening
Windows on Pain opened at the ABN AMRO Tower on 23 May to an audience of some 500 guests. Mike Carlton from Radio 2UE and the Sydney Morning Herald officially opened the exhibition and pain patient Peter Neilson spoke very movingly about his struggle to manage pain and adapt to a very different lifestyle. Professor Cousins outlined the key research areas and stressed the need for pain to remain high on the agenda.
Our thanks to ABN AMRO for their support of Windows on Pain in providing us with a central city venue and to the many volunteers who staffed the information desk throughout the two week exhibition showing.
Please click here to view pictures from the event >>
Windows on Pain Day
May had been the driest and sunniest for years until….Windows on Pain Day – or as we renamed it that morning, Friday 23 May – Windows on Rain Day.
However, undaunted, volunteers all over Sydney and beyond, grabbed their little Window badges and began spruiking the cause. From Dr Nic Jools in his wheelchair (and his wife Barbara) at Circular Quay to a crowd of schoolchildren from Knox and PLC Pymble, to the ubiquitous group in Armidale who managed to run stalls in every shopping precinct and the NSW-wide staff of the ANZ Bank – the job got underway – to promote Windows on Pain and make some money for research in the process.
Meanwhile back at Balmoral Beach, young Emma Livingston, a pain patient was swimming another kilometer as part of her swimathon to raise money for Windows on Pain. And she did - $9000 over ten days and ten kilometers.
Windows on Pain Day raised $25,000 – not a bad start to our first ever awareness day.
Please click here to view pictures from the event >>
Windows on Pain Fundraising Dinner and Art Auction
Glass Brasserie at the Hilton was the venue for the finale of the Windows on Pain campaign. 150 guests attended the dinner which was MC’d by Virginia Trioli from ABC TV – who promised early on that she would be inflicting some pain on those guests who were not looking generous.
The food was excellent, as you would expect from one of Australia’s best chefs, Luke Mangan and the tables were beautifully decorated in shades of campaign green by Jo Reid and Sarah Belmonte, who donated their services.
Dr Nic Jools spoke movingly of his many years of chronic pain and his treatment at the PMRI and Kieren Perkins, who had come from Brisbane to join us gave a special perspective on how pain affects not just the sufferer but the whole family.
Deutscher and Hackett auctioneer Anita Archer, who had flown up from Melbourne to conduct the auction, did so with great vigour and persuasiveness, meaning that at the end of the evening we had raised $150,000 for research.
Another $70,000 has come in from donations that were made during the campaign period and we have had over $200,000 donated in kind.
