Founded June 2013 (2013-06) Type NGO | Founders Liz and Scott Dawes Registration no. ABN 49126106682 | |
Focus pediatric brain research and care Location Sandringham, Victoria, Australia | ||
The Robert Connor Dawes Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that facilitates funding in brain research, care and development in Australia and the United States. The foundation was created in June 2013 by Liz Dawes and Scott Dawes in memory of their son Robert Connor Dawes who died from a brain tumour in April 2013.
Overview
Fund donations go towards research to further understand and more completely treat brain tumours, including earlier detection, surgery and post-surgery treatments at the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Children's Cancer Institute of Australia and the Monash Medical Centre. The foundation also supports the work of The CERN Foundation. The main source of fundraising is the annual Connor's Run which has raised $1.35 million since 2013 and has become the largest event for paediatric brain cancer in Australia. The event was recognised by the Bayside City Council in 2014 as the Best Community Event of the Year. Their main event in the United States is Connor's Ergo Challenge. In 2014, the foundation launched Victoria's first Brain Week to raise awareness of brain cancer and source research funding, which is now in its third year. Lisa McCune, James Tomkins, Olivia Wells, Tamsyn Lewis and Feliks Zemdegs have been signed on as ambassadors. As of July 31, 2015, they changed their name from Robert Connor Dawes Fund to Robert Connor Dawes Foundation. In 2016, the foundation's annual Connor's Run broke new records with 3,600 participants and raised in excess of $650,000, smashing their fundraising goal and amounts raised in previous years.