Art exhibition sparks $4,300 diabetes research donation.

Cottesloe resident Norah Murphy’s art exhibition has netted thousands of dollars to help keep West Australian diabetes researchers in the laboratory.

Ms Murphy’s fundraiser, held in June at The Grove Library in Peppermint Grove, has seen her donate more than $4,000 to the Diabetes Research WA Annual Research Program.

There was an outpouring of support from Norah and her family, friends and fans with many taking home a prized piece of art.

Norah’s amazing artworks were snapped up during her successful exhibition such that she could deposit $4,300 into our account, which will go towards funding our next round of diabetes research grants for 2022

Norah has not only channelled her creativity into our important cause through this event though; she’s been giving to our charity each month since November 2014 and is one of our ‘Be Extraordinary. Give Regularly’ regular donors so is a true hero to us and the researchers we support.

Ms Murphy’s granddaughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a toddler and another family member is impacted by type 2 diabetes.

Merging artistic passion with the desire to give back to diabetes research is a gift that keeps on giving, so if you have an idea whether that be painting, cooking, photography – we encourage you to pick up the phone and have a chat. It’s an easy way to contribute and have fun along the way.

 


Our Sports Ambassador, Jamie Cripps.

Jamie Cripps, who is a key West Coast Eagles forward, joined us in July 2019 as our latest Sports Ambassador.

Since then Jamie has spearheaded our first successful crowdfunding campaign Help Crippa Kick Diabetes Research Goals raising more than $60,000 for our 2021 research program. One significant research grant was named in his honour in 2020.

Jamie told us “I haven’t let diabetes stop me from playing AFL or doing anything else I dreamt about. But diabetes can be difficult to manage even with new technologies – I think about it every day.  We can’t give up on finding a cure”.

Jamie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a week before the AFL national draft in 2010 at the age of 18. He had to learn how to manages his diabetes with daily insulin injections and careful monitoring of his blood glucose levels.

Jamie was admitted to hospital seriously ill but he’s learned to tackle the challenge head-on and is now doing his bit to raise funds for research. “I’m grateful I can manage my diabetes well thanks to research advances, including the discovery of insulin many years ago, but I definitely lost some freedom when I was diagnosed – it’s a burden I would definitely like to live without,” explained Jamie.

“I’m hopeful that by taking on this role with Diabetes Research WA, I can highlight the need for more research into all forms of diabetes.”

You can still help Crippa kick more research goals here.