Thousands of authors fund vital kids’ cancer research

Every year, budding authors and illustrators around Australia group together to create digital storybooks for children in hospital.

It’s all part of Write a Book in a Day, an annual team competition that promotes literacy, collaboration and creativity, administrated by The Kids’ Cancer Project.

There is also an important philanthropic element enjoyed by the writers. Funds raised by the teams in sponsorship of their efforts go towards vital scientific research to find cures for the 950 children diagnosed annually in this country.

In 2020, more than 7600 writers and illustrators in 1000 separate teams participated, raising over $530,000 for vital medical research through The Kids’ Cancer Project.

Where the money goes

With more children dying of cancer in Australia than any other disease, Owen Finegan, CEO of The Kids’ Cancer Project said the funds raised by Write a Book in a Day participants goes a long way.

“Childhood cancer is different to adult cancer in that it’s not linked to lifestyle factors,” said Finegan. “In fact, the majority of childhood cancers remain poorly understood and the causes are unknown.”

“Because our vision is for 100 per cent survival of all children with cancer, our funding spans a wide variety of studies to improve outcomes for the 950 young Australians diagnosed every year.”

“The significant funds raised through the 2020 Write a Book in a Day competition have gone towards five diverse programs that have the greatest chance of success in finding kinder, more effective cancer treatments specifically for children.”

Kinder cancer treatments for kids

Funds raised through the 2020 Write a Book in a Day competition have funded ongoing support of international clinical trials, a national tumour bank, a national program to help children eat and live well after cancer treatment, as well as two laboratory studies to improve treatments for children and adolescents diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.