An irregular coincidence in a regular giving town
2025-09-08
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Stuart has been building his impact with us for years. He didn’t know that his neighbour was too!
A tight-knit community spread far and wide across the country, our regular givers combined to contribute just shy of $2 million to childhood cancer research in the last financial year.
While donations happen individually, from those that give monthly to those who do so quarterly, there’s a unity and shared purpose that brings our regular givers together – taking a small, frequent contribution and turning it into a large, powerful impact.
Two hours north of Sydney lies an area with the postcode 2290 that has been doing just that.
An incredible 17 regular givers all call the Charlestown region home, with the group – who share little in common outside of their postcode and belief in helping create a better world for kids with cancer – contributing over $49,000 to The Kids’ Cancer Project in total since signing up.
Two of those locals even live right next door to each other but had no idea of the collective impact they were making together.
Stuart Bell is a recently-retired financier from the region. A former baseballer, he’s lived in the area for decades. Between mentoring a young boy at the local school, cleaning the houses of elderly couples and volunteering his time at prisons, he also ensures he donates every month to The Kids’ Cancer Project.
Stuart says his sense of altruism was instilled within him from his mother, who taught him to always help those less fortunate than him. Time spent with children in cancer wards at the local John Hunter Hospital was the catalyst for him to donate regularly.
“I’ve been donating for a few years now. My wife keeps telling me that we’ve got to scale it back a little bit, but we know it works,” he says.
“I think it’s pretty important for all of us to look after these kids because they’re the generation that’s going to step into the world and make it a better place.”
“I like to support the kids. They really do suffer, unfortunately. Funding research helps them.”
Like all our donors, Stuart knows that funding scientific research into kids’ cancers is the only way to truly make a difference in the lives of children living with the insidious disease.
“I just feel good about it because we’re helping both kids and scientists. The more backing these scientists get, the better. I get a kick out of knowing that some of these kids are going to get through their ordeal thanks to research.
“I suppose the biggest thing is it helps. It enforces in me the fact that I’m doing something to help others.”
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Next door to Stuart’s number 30 house is Jane Campbell, number 32, who is also making every month matter in the fight against childhood cancer. They were previously unaware of their shared passion in helping fund vital childhood cancer research and collectively making a lasting impact in helping us realise our dream of no child dying from cancer.
“It’s just terrific,” Stuart says when reflecting on the impact his Charlestown community has had. “Jane’s a lovely lady and a big supporter of The Kids’ Cancer Project, and we’ve been speaking about us supporting the same charity!
“I gave her the news when I went over the other day. She said she just likes to help as well and provide hope for kids with cancer.”
Much like the kids and researchers that frequent these pages, each one of our donors have their own story to tell. Their experiences have shaped their outlook, leading them to The Kids’ Cancer Project, and the need to fund childhood cancer research compels them into continuous action.
Survival starts with you. A monthly donation to The Kids’ Cancer Project allows you to build long-term impact for kids with cancer.