The Good Friday Appeal is an annual

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

activity on behalf of the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia. As a major specialist paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital provides a full range of clinical services, tertiary care, as well ...

, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The event occurs on

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

every year. In 2022, the appeal raised over $22 million, setting a new record. More than $345 million has been raised for the hospital since the appeal began in 1931. Individuals and businesses, clubs, schools and country towns throughout the state conduct activities to raise money for the hospital. The appeal is a non-political, non-denominational organisation that exists solely to financially support The Royal Children's Hospital. For the first time in 2014, the telethon was staged within the 2,500-seat Plenary theatre at the

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, colloquially referred to as "Jeff's Shed," is a group of three adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues are ow ...

(MCEC). The public were able to purchase tickets to join the live studio audience, with proceeds donated to the appeal. In 2016, the evening concert was marketed as a ticketed event via

Ticketek Ticketek is an Australian event ticketing company. Founded in 1979, the company is owned by TEG Pty Ltd with its headquarters in Sydney and operates ticketing operations for entertainment and sporting events in Australia and New Zealand. There ...

. The state-of-the-art MCEC complex, which is entirely undercover, also features a vast foyer area and support rooms which allowed the appeal to expand activities such as the popular Kids Day Out program and host community groups which fundraise for the hospital.

History

The Appeal started in 1931 when groups of journalists from

The Herald and Weekly Times The Herald and Weekly Times Pty Ltd (HWT) is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by News Pty Ltd, which as News Ltd, purchased the HWT in 1987. Newspapers The HWT's newspaper interests date ba ...

Ltd organised a sporting

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

in aid of Melbourne hospitals. The proceeds from the appeal initially went to different hospitals each year, but from their third-year proceeds have gone exclusively to the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital. In 1942, Sir

Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist, businessman and the father of Rupert Murdoch, the current Executive chairman for News Corporation and the chairman of Fox Corporation. Early life Murdoc ...

as managing director and editor of ''The Herald'' agreed that ''The Herald'' and radio station 3DB should broadcast an all-day appeal on

. In 1957, the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

joined the appeal and presented a three-hour

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

on Good Friday afternoon. In 1960, the telethon adopted the day-long format which continues annually to this day. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the telethon was also re-broadcast through regional Victoria via local channels, with

Prime Television Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capi ...

being the sole regional broadcaster from 1992 with the aggregation of regional markets.

Funds raised

References

External links

*{{Official Site, http://www.goodfridayappeal.com.au
Donate to the Appeal

Herald Sun Shop Premiership Posters (proceeds to the Good Friday Appeal)
Culture of Melbourne Organisations based in Melbourne Seven Network Australian telethons 1931 establishments in Australia Television shows set in Melbourne

History

Funds raised

See also

References

External links