Fight Cancer Foundation was formed in 1989 as the Bone Marrow Donor Institute by a small group of people with the mission of establishing a bone marrow donor registry in Australia.

This group’s mission was driven by the fact that Australians with leukaemia or other blood cancers, who did not have a match within their families, stood little chance of long term survival unless they were able to access costly overseas treatments.

“I was part of this small group of concerned parents,” says Fay Duncan, President of Fight Cancer Foundation. “I became involved when my best friend’s daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia, and there were few treatment options. There was no bone marrow donor registry in Australia, in fact there were very few in the world.

“Now in 2014, we are celebrating our Silver Jubilee – 25 years of providing hope and a second chance of life to patients living with cancer.

“I served on the initial organising committee and helped develop the first volunteer branch in Camberwell and the volunteer branch and recycle shop in Geelong. Other volunteer branches quickly followed which was our lifeline at this time, raising funds and recruiting potential donors. Today 175,000 Australians are registered and the Registry is linked to an international database of 10 million potential donors.

“In 1991 we launched the ‘Capital Appeal Committee’ to build office space and research laboratories and raised more than $3.5m to complete this project in 1993. Today the Rotary Bone Marrow Research Centre is still home to Fight Cancer Foundation, with the laboratory space gifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital as the home of the Bone Marrow Research Laboratories and more recently the Translational Haematological Research Laboratories with annual funding from Fight Cancer Foundation.

“We are today partnering with the world-renowned Royal Melbourne Hospital in funding significant research into finding a cure, better treatment methods and early detection tests for leukaemia and other genetic blood cancers and disorders.

“The BMDI Cord Blood Bank – another vital community project, was established in 1997 to provide transplant tissue for patients who are unable to be matched with a suitable donor. I served on the initial BMDI Cord Blood Bank committee and we raised more than $2.3m. Today the Public Cord Blood Banks have stored almost 30,000 cord blood units for this vital life-saving program.

“In 2001, I chaired a steering committee to establish the viability of a new education support program to assist students while they are away from school during cancer treatment and recovery – a program very close to my heart.

“I also served on the ‘Accommodation Centre Appeal Committee’. We wanted to provide low cost accommodation to patients and their families who need to relocate from regional areas to be near major treating hospitals. The Appeal Committee raised $4m to establish our first accommodation centre, BMDI Rotary House in North Melbourne in 2003.

“BMDI Rotary House is a ‘home away from home’ and provides self-contained apartments for families during daunting rounds of treatment. More than 60 families a year stay at BMDI Rotary House in a caring and supportive environment.

“The majority of patients are treated nearby at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital or Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma or other blood cancers, which require a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.

“Following the success of BMDI Rotary House, we opened John Opie House in Hobart in 2008 and Hilltop, a $5 million facility in Albury in March 2013.

“I had the honour of being recognised by the prestigious Columbia University Medical Center in New York in March 2013 for work we had undertaken over many years into improving the lives of patients with leukaemia and other blood cancers.

“I was also delighted to be honoured in New York by the United States-based Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation at their annual Angel Ball in October 2013 as a tribute to our many years of hard work in developing and delivering vital support programs and funding major research projects for cancer patients and their families.

“In March 2014, I was privileged to be inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women by the Premier, The Hon. Dr Denis Napthine. This was a huge surprise and a wonderful honour to be included with such an amazing diversity of compassionate and committed Victorian women.

“Fight Cancer Foundation has developed an amazing and extensive network of supportive volunteers, including our Patrons Deborra-lee Furness and Hugh Jackman who play a key role in promoting Fight Cancer Foundation.

“When my daughter Deborra-lee Furness and Hugh Jackman fell in love, Hugh said to me, ‘I’ve just proposed to Deborra-lee and I’d like your blessing,'” “I think he thought I’d go, ‘Yay!’ and, on the inside, I did, but I made him sit down. ‘This is my daughter you’re marrying and you have to look after her,’ I said. I made him promise to love her forever, never go to bed on an argument and that he had to be the patron of Fight Cancer Foundation.

“For the past 22 years I have been a member of the organising committee – mostly as Chairman – for the Red Ball, our signature annual event, which has raised millions of dollars for cancer research and support. It has become an event that outdoes itself each year and triumphantly saw Hugh perform from his hit show ‘Back on Broadway’ before a record number of guests, sponsors and supporters in 2012.

“I have been involved at every level of Fight Cancer Foundation for 25 years. In the future, we will extend our focus and continue to develop significant new projects within the parameters of our mission of giving hope and saving lives and our vision of providing care, treatment and support for cancer patients and their families. ”

Fay was Honorary Secretary of the Bone Marrow Donor Institute from 1990 to 1992 and again from 2001 – 2010. She was Executive Director from 1992 – 2001 and was appointed President and Chairman of Fight Cancer Foundation in December 2012