AMA (NSW) RMOA Charity Champions Campaign

AMA (NSW) RMOA Charity Champions Campaign

Doctors-in-training have worked tirelessly throughout COVID-19 to protect the health of Australians, but many have also been supporting vulnerable Australians outside the hospital by raising money for various charities.

From September to December 2021, AMA (NSW) launched the RMOA Charity Champions Campaign to drive some friendly competition between RMOAs and support their fundraising efforts for charity organisations. AMA (NSW) is topping up the donations of the three RMOA groups who raised the most funds during the campaign. 

First place – Prince of Wales RMOA ($8,298.25)

Prince Of Wales RMOA (POW RMOA) raised money in support of the Killara Women’s Refuge, run by Vinnies/St Vincent de Paul Society. According to Dr Ashna Basu, the extended lockdown during COVID increased rates of domestic violence, which in turn caused a spike in demand for women’s refuge/shelter services. 

“Killara Refuge is the only refuge for women and children servicing the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and they’re under a huge strain at the best of times let alone during a prolonged lockdown,” Dr Basu said.

POW RMOA organised a range of activities to raise funds – all within the constraints of lockdown. The activities consisted of a Zoom cook-a-long, two Zoom fitness sessions: one a Pilates class and the other a HIIT session, and lastly a Zoom trivia night. To promote their charity work, the team put posters up within the hospital and sent emails to all hospital staff. 

“A lot of our work as the RMOA is addressing staff morale and wellbeing through various initiatives, and this fundraiser was part of our community portfolio. There are lots of dimensions to wellbeing; we do a lot of advocacy work, run social events, try and provide pick-me-ups with gifts, but we also recognise that giving back (in a different way to usual work) has its own wellbeing benefits too,” Dr Basu said.

2022 is looking like yet another motivating year for POW RMOA – being crowned the 2021 AMA (NSW) Charity Champion Campaign’s first place winners, it’s given the team more motivation to raise even more donations for charities. The RMOA team are looking forward to continuing their charity work and expanding their activities to raise more funds.

Second place – Central Coast RMOA Women in Health ($5,925)

Following their successful fundraising efforts in May 2021 for the Barbara May Foundation helping maternal health across several countries of Africa, Central Coast RMOA Women in Health (CC RMOA WIH) decided to fundraise a little closer to home during the campaign period. 

“We wanted to acknowledge that while extended COVID lockdowns are hard for everyone, for some women and children in our community, it is much worse,” Dr Alissa Barton said. 

The group teamed up with Coast Shelter for ‘Life Support’ – a NSW lockdown campaign to create and donate care packages for women who had needed emergency accommodation after leaving an unsafe environment. CC RMOA WIH donated 79 care packages. To ensure the packages were practical, they sought advice from Coast Shelter on what to include. They also created Life Support posters and encouraged people to donate directly.

“The idea behind the care packages was to provide women with basic comfort and dignity through this difficult time of their lives. We were blown away by the response and the care and thought behind each of the items chosen,” Dr Barton said. 

CC RMOA WIH put together an event for International Women’s Day 2022, which raised funds for The Central Coast Community Women’s Health Centre – a feminist women’s health centre providing holistic health services to women at three centres located at Wyoming, Wyong, and Woy Woy. We can only expect even more fundraising for the group throughout 2022. 

Third Place – Royal Prince Alfred RMOA ($3,400)

RPA RMOA has raised a total of $3,400 for the Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC) in Redfern. WAGEC works within RPA’s local community and provides support and services for women and children experiencing homelessness or trauma. RPA RMOA’s Dr Katie Ryan said the demand for WAGEC’s services increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We saw that WAGEC offers holistic support outside of the acute hospital system in which we work and choosing to support them was a great way to recognise that – as well as get local businesses involved in the cause. We also wanted to introduce an event that would boost morale amongst our junior doctor community as our rates of burnout and stress have been skyrocketing in the context of the pandemic,” Dr Ryan said. 

RPA RMOA organised an online silent charity auction as a fun and COVID-safe activity that was inclusive for all to get involved. They donated goods and services from local businesses, as well as financing some of the prizes from their own budget. The group ended up with amazing prizes including wine, pottery class vouchers, medical courses, dining vouchers, spa vouchers and much more.

“As the burden of the pandemic hopefully eases in 2022, we plan to introduce more in-person events that can promote more fundraising and also be used as wellbeing activities for our junior doctors,” Dr Ryan said. RPA RMOA hope to continue to support WAGEC now that they have built a relationship with the organisation and can use the ongoing support.