As the challenges of Covid-19 continued throughout 2022, our Committee continued to put their best foot forward to ensure our community of people with scleroderma was supported and engaged.

This financial year 2021-22 was yet another challenging year for the community and we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved this year.

At our AGM, we spent time reflecting on what made this year special as well as the highlights from the last 12 months, including our support groups, our Virtual Education Sessions and events such as the World Scleroderma Day lunch and the Shine Bright Gala. The meeting was held online via Google Meet where all of our current committee members were in attendance.

Here’s a recap of what was covered during the meeting.

Guest Speaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our amazing guest speaker was our Harrison Pennicott Scholarship recipient, Dr Alannah Quinlivan who spoke on her research on the prevalence and impact of Gastrointestinal symptoms in scleroderma.

You can read the full study here.

Fundraisers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the pandemic and lockdowns slowly easing in, fundraising activities had been easier than last year.

As part of the World Scleroderma Day, Scleroderma Victoria hosted a luncheon fundraiser that was held at the London Tavern Hotel. We were able to raise Scleroderma Victoria’s highest amount in fundraising ever.  Our wonderful Ambassador Dyson Heppell attended, and we are grateful for his contributions to our Live Auction on the day.

Another successful event was the Shine Bright Gala Inspired by Harrison Pennicott that was held last 19th November 2022.

This night of dining and entertainment raised an incredible $46,000 for the Harrison Pennicott Scholarship for PhD research on scleroderma.

We are excited to do all these again! Stay tuned to our social media for events next year.

Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2020, we launched our Virtual Education Sessions online, with the aim of empowering scleroderma patients to learn more about self-care.

Challenges presented by Covid-19 are continuing but virtual education sessions have been a success and will also be continuing.

It has been an amazing feat to have Janssen Pharmaceuticals provide us with an Education Grant to assist us with costs of guest speakers and recording the sessions where possible. This has enabled us to build on our YouTube and social media presence and provide ongoing support for people with scleroderma.

 In these monthly sessions, an expert guest speaker would chat with attendees on topics ranging from how to manage Raynaud’s condition to getting know your legal rights.

Thanks to feedback from our community on how useful these sessions were, we’ll continue to run them this coming year.

Be sure to connect with us on social media or view our events page to stay in the loop.

Research & Health

We continue to support the Scleroderma Nurses with funding at both St Vincent’s and Monash Hospitals, and after several attempts at reinstating the nurses due to last year’s resignations, both hospitals now have new nurses in place. We have continued to support people with scleroderma in Tasmania, and we would also like to acknowledge the passing of Linden Chipman. Linden was a key driver in getting the Hobart group together.

Our people

As we’re grateful for all of our volunteers, it’s important to take a moment and acknowledge them. They’ve been working so hard these past few months, and it’s time for us to say thanks – especially to the committee members who have never faltered.

We also acknowledged our scleroderma advocates who passed away in 2022, Gene Swinstead, Nia Sims, Linden Chipman, Kathleen Flannigan and Luisa D’Alessandro.

Our incredible volunteers on the Scleroderma Victoria Committee are all staying on in their same positions, and we truly appreciate their time and dedication to making sure we deliver the best support possible to our members.

If you would like to volunteer on our committee, please reach out to us at enq@sclerodermavictoria.com.au

 

This year was not an easy one for our community. But 2021-22 has proven to be a testament to our resilience and to all the good we can do in the future.

In a show of appreciation, we would like to thank everyone who has supported us and look forward to an even brighter year in 2023.