On the afternoon of Friday 29th, March PHD Sydney closed shop to participate in ‘PHD’s Big Hug. Big Hug is a PHD initiative that encourages PHD-ers to give back to the community and support great causes. This year, the agency was split into teams and spent the afternoon supporting various charities such as Fight for a Cure, Starlight Foundation and Clean Up Australia.
Christmas in July
The executive, strategy, content, marketing, finance and admin team rallied together their resources to collect prizes for auction for Fight for a Cure, with their charity ball Fight on the Beaches. Utilising their media partner relations, they were able to donate experiences such as 4 x tickets to NRL matches, 6-night Pacific cruise for two people and 2 x tickets to Stakes Day including two nights of accommodation.
Fight on the Beaches is a Northern Beaches based cancer charity which has raised over $1.5 million for cancer research in just five years. Run by a volunteer group of women who have all lost a loved one to cancer, this fundraising has resulted in 10 years of additional Australian cancer research funding and the provision of 6 cancer screening clinics with free childcare for women with young children to obtain screening for breast, skin and cervical cancer.
Their major fundraiser is a ‘Christmas in July’ Charity Ball which will be held on 5th July at Miramare Gardens in Terrey Hills with 720 guests and a goal of raising more than $300 000 in one night. On the night, PHD will be sponsoring the photo booth.
Fun Run
Team Raicevich blazed a trail through Pyrmont, running a combined 35km as a team from the PHD Sydney office (Pyrmont) to Wayward Brewing Co (Camperdown) and back. The team raised over $3,000 which was donated to the Starlight Foundation.
The Starlight Foundation runs programs that focus on positive psychology to distract sick kids from fear and pain to contribute to their overall wellbeing by helping them and their families find joy and happiness during difficult times.
With the teams’ funds, they granted 11 seriously ill children their Starlight wishes.
Clean Up Australia
Partnering up with Clean Up Australia, Team Douglas-Neal, Team Furnari and Team Milligan got their hands dirty to keep our beaches clean, spending the afternoon picking up rubbish from Clovelly Beach to Botany Bay.
Clean Up Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that inspires and empowers communities to implement lasting behavioural change to clean up, fix up, and conserve our environment.
Surf’s Up
Team Pardini made waves at ‘Unltd’s Big Kahuna surfing competition fundraiser. Spending the afternoon at Queenscliff beach, they manned the Sausage Sizzle and drinks station, ensuring that all participants stayed well fed and hydrated!
The Big Kahuna surfing competition saw over 100 people from media, marketing, creative, and tech industry participate in a surfing competition that saw twelve teams of four take part in a surf-tag event. Ultimately raising $55,000 towards UnLtd charity grants program helping children and young people at risk.
Overall, it was a great day that enabled PHD-ers to come together and give back to the community by supporting some amazing charities.
