HMRI went 50-50 in more than $14,000 as the Newcastle Knight’s charity of choice on Sunday 28 May 2023. 

HMRI went 50-50 in more than $14,000 as the Newcastle Knights charity of choice on Sunday 28 May 2023.  

The generosity of a 20,000-strong crowd saw HMRI volunteers set the new stadium record for money raised as part of the 50-50 Charity Raffle.  

Not only was $7,274 raised for HMRI, but the other half of money raised went to a lucky fan (not to mention our home team coming away with the win!). 

Fans also had the opportunity to visit our HMRI Stand, which saw Knights and Sea Eagles supporters alike try their hand in a range of physical activities with the Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered team.  

After putting their co-ordination to the test, community members could talk with the HMRI team about the importance of signing up to our Research Register and how to get involved.  

“What this means is we get an extra chance to connect with our community to tell them all about the ground-breaking research that we do,” Institute Director, Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin said. 

“We also get to listen to what the health needs are of this beautiful town of ours.” 

As well as addressing the corporate community alongside the University of Newcastle’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Nathan Towney, Professor Kay-Lambkin was invited onto the field for a pre-game interview where she explained the value of each dollar raised.  

“It doesn’t matter how small or how big that donation is,” Professor Kay-Lambkin said on the day. 

“Even something like $20 can help us process some slides that go into a microscope that might just be the slides that cure cancer. 

“Big or small it goes into keeping the lights on, running the experiments, running the surveys and making sure that HMRI and our researchers and clinicians continue to do their good work.” 

HMRI gives a massive thanks to everyone who came out in the chilly conditions to show their support, as well as those who supported online. 

We also couldn’t have done it without the support of our wonderful volunteers made up of HMRI staff members, their families, and researchers.