COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

“When you have a fragile little one and you don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s such an emotionally challenging roller coaster.” – Tom Price

When Melbourne teacher and runner Tom Price witnessed his niece Sylvie enduring the fight for her life after being born prematurely, he couldn’t stand still. Using running as his vehicle, he was inspired to raise funds for the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, whose life-saving care had given Sylvie a chance at survival.

From 9th of December 2023 to the 27th of January 2024, Tom will be running the equivalent of 50 marathons in 50 days, with a goal to fundraise a minimum of $50,000 to support NICU families.

These much-needed funds will be used to purchase kangaroo chairs for the NICU, creating a safe and supportive space for precious skin-to-skin contact between parent and baby. Any additional funds will go towards much-needed research to help give these premature or critically ill babies the best opportunity to thrive.

‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’ - and that’s essentially the mantra for this run, and for our decision to fundraise for Canteen. We want to bring as many people along on this journey with us as we can.” – Angus Bruce

From the 25th of March to the 26th of March 2023, Angus and Jackson Bruce laced up for the most epic run of their lives, running ‘Cape To Cape’ across Kangaroo Island to support Canteen Australia’s vision to ensure no young person goes through cancer alone.

Canteen Australia provides much-need support services to 12 – 25 year olds that are dealing with cancer in their life – providing genuine, effective help. Through Canteen Connect, these cancer-affected youth get free access to online counsellors, support networks and programs to support their emotional wellbeing and help cope with grief.

Running 160km in 20 hours and 37 minutes, the Bruce brothers surpassed their original fundraising goal of $16,000, raising a total of $28,268 for Canteen Australia.

Sport can change a child’s life – nurturing their self-esteem, confidence and building the foundations of a healthy and happy adulthood. Unfortunately, not all children have access to the necessary sports equipment.

In Christmas 2022, Sportitude partnered with KickStart For Kids to give disadvantaged children the ‘Gift Of Sport’. KickStart For Kids is a charity that’s helping feed kids in need – supporting over 350 South Australian schools to ensure their students have access to quality breakfast and lunch – when many would otherwise go to school hungry.

The ‘Gift Of Sport’ initiative brought this same compassion to helping kids enjoy an active lifestyle. Members of the Sportitude community including team members and customers purchased drink bottles, basketballs and footballs from Sportitude to be donated to a child in need.

During the early months of 2022, catastrophic floods struck small communities across Eastern Australia in NSW and QLD, turning towns into crisis zones, destroying homes and leaving families without basic essentials.

To raise funds for flood-affected regions, Sportitude held an in-person River Run charity event from our Hindmarsh store and a virtual River Run event so everyone across Australia could lend their support.

The $4,530 raised was donated to GIVIT - a charity organisation forming a bridge between disaster-affected communities and the donations, goods and services generously provided by wider Australia.

GIVIT helps fulfil genuine and urgent needs – everything from groceries, blankets, clothing, furniture and appliances to assist vulnerable communities during times of crisis. These essentials are purchased from local businesses if possible to support the economy of flood-affected regions.