Reflections from Robin Penty, November 2024
November 11, 2024
For the OCRF, November marks the end of the frenzied frocking fun of Frocktober, the last of our major fundraising efforts for the year. And what a year 2024 has been.
Frocktober wraps!
2024 was another standout year for our fabulous frockers. Across the nation we saw over 780 participants frock up and raise funds across 31 days of frocks, frocktail parties, frock swaps, community events, workplace gatherings, and much more.
One of our media partners Smooth FM hosted a beautiful Frocktober function with Mike Perso for Smooth FM’s listeners. In addition, we were able to spread the Frocktober word far and wide through fantastic coverage in the Herald Sun, SITCHU, The Daily Telegraph, 9Honey, and GRAZIA, as well as a stellar impact on social media, thanks to you and more than thirty celebrities and influencers who joined the frocking fun.
We even flew the Frocktober flag around the globe. Whilst I was travelling overseas this month, I had the genuine pleasure of frocking up thanks to our Friends of Frocktober, Leona Edmiston and Witchery, for researcher meetings at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and the HHMT International Forum in Ovarian Cancer. We flew the Frocktober flag around the globe with a flourish!
Together, we’ve achieved another incredible result that will add enormously to our 2025 National Research Grants Program and support vital research. The official Frocktober tally will be revealed soon, so keep an eye on the Frocktober Instagram to be the first to know the result.
Our community shines
We are also awed by community fundraising efforts throughout October, with The King’s Men Ride Different 6 raising $40,000 for the OCRF. This dedicated group of riders includes Justin Flynn, the husband of late OCRF Ambassador Leane Flynn. They came together to ride from Castlemaine to Melbourne to raise much-needed funds for ovarian cancer research. It was a special tribute to the valuable legacy Leane left for our community.
Another OCRF Ambassador, Tora Murphy, had a huge impact with the O-vary Long Walk. Tora was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer at just 24 years old and is currently undergoing treatment. On October 25, a group of her friends and family walked the 100km journey from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay in 24 hours to aiming to raise $24,000. As of writing the team had smashed their goal and raised over $38,000, a remarkable result!
On the horizon
The OCRF team is now deep into planning for 2025, with several exciting initiatives ahead.
We’ve just finalised our updated five-year organisation strategy, which we’ll launch early next year, and we’re in the throes of planning for the OCRF’s silver anniversary year in 2025, including a new logo and visual identity for the OCRF. Plus there’s several more surprises up our sleeve!
To conclude, I’d like to thank all of the patient advocates who participated in the OCRF’s national survey, focus groups and workshops over the last two months. Your engagement with these projects we fund is critical to our learning and impact as an organisation – and makes for far better research outcomes as well. I thank and salute you.
Warm regards in the lead-up to the holiday season,
Robin Penty, CEO
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