On Thursday 22nd March 2012, the 9th Annual Sony Foundation Golf Challenge saw 72 players hit the course at Terrey Hills Golf Club to raise funds for Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camps. Although the weather was overcast, the rain held off to bring a great day of play for our Corporate Partners, Sony Companies and their guests.

The day kicked off at 10am with registration BBQ, to then assemble and hear Leanne Neil speak firsthand about life at the Children’s Holiday Camps. Leanne enlightened everyone with her stories of experience over the many years as a camp coordinator. A big thank you to our Team Sponsors for 2012: GfK, DHL Supply Chain, Salmat, Crossmark, Infoteam Oceania, JB Hi-Fi, 7 Network, Harvey Norman, Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, OMD, Toll Ipec and Media Merchants.

We raised $51,782 on the day which is a tremendous amount towards the Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camps . We would like to thank the organising committee for their tremendous efforts in helping to organise the day

Back in 2012 by popular demand was Richard Mercer, The Vintage’s PGA Golf Pro, helping out with technique and long drives on the 1st hole. This year also saw the addition of Sony Computer Entertainment activating with their PS Vitas out on the 6th hole to entertain players and guests, as well as RockBare Wine Makers hosting a marquee out on the 15th hole for players to taste a selection of sparkling, red and white wines straight from the Adelaide Hills wine region. An auction finished off the day with Auctioneer Andrew Lutze from Cunningham’s Property, donating his time to help out.

All in all, it was a great day of golf with Crossmark taking the Net Champions position, knocking off the 2011 winner’s team, Sony Australia 1. Seven Network came a very close second!

We have uploaded some great photos to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sonyfoundation

On Thursday, 13 October 2011, Sony Foundation Australia took over the full line-up of restaurants at Sydney’s Woolloomooloo Wharf to host 800 guests for a lunchtime fundraising extravaganza: Wharf4Ward. The star-studded event raised a staggering $550,000 for Sony Foundation’s charity campaign - ‘You Can’ – to build specialised youth cancer wards across Australia.

Sony Music artists including Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Mark Vincent, Stan Walker and Tim Freedman rocked the wharf and guests were also treated to a special performance from the X Factor finalists.

The event was hosted by supporters from each major network: Channel Seven’s Samantha Armytage and Andrew O’Keefe, Nine Network’s Peter Overton and Natalie Gruzlewski, and Network Ten’s Natarsha Belling and Dr Andrew Rochford. The Live Auction was hosted by a charismatic David Koch.

Other noted guests included Jodi Gordon and Braith Anasta, Ronan Keating, Melissa Doyle, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Dennis Lillee, Nikki Phillips, Charlotte Dawson, Tom Williams, Lizzy Lovette, Danny Clayton and Steve Waugh.

Sophie Ryan, Chief Executive Officer, Sony Foundation Australia, said “ Wharf4Ward was more than just a fabulous day of food and entertainment, most importantly the 800 guests in attendance helped raise a staggering $550,000 for Sony Foundation’s ‘You Can’ campaign to help young Australians survive cancer. This money will make a measurable difference to the lives of young Australians with cancer”.

You can support the 'You Can' campaign simply by donating your old mobile phone at www.youcan.org.au

On Wednesday 28 July 2010 over 200 guests witnessed a rare sporting battle as some of AFL’s most recognised presidents went head-to-head with a stellar line-up of players at Sony Foundation’s AFL: It’s a Serious Business dinner, to raise funds for Sony Foundation.

The event, hosted by Hamish McLachlan from the Seven Network’s AFL Game Day , attracted an impressive panel consisting of David Smorgon OAM, President of the Western Bulldogs, Stephen Kernahan, President of the Carlton Football Club, Greg Westaway, President of the St Kilda Football Club and players Barry Hall, Marc Murphy and Steven King.

Held at Melbourne’s controversial Etihad Stadium the talk turned green as guests and panel members nutted out the future of the St Kilda’s home ground. Questions around the Western Bulldogs termination of Jason Akermanis's contract just six weeks before the end of the home-and-away season drew excitement from the crowd and Bulldog’s president David Smorgon explained it was ‘a sad day’ for the club.

The football talk was broken up by entertaining performances from Sony Music artists Greta Bradman and Michael Paynter.

The event raised over $60,000 for Sony Foundation’s youth-related projects.

On Saturday, July 10, Sony Foundation held a star-studded event at BLUE Hotel's Water Bar to launch Fashion4Ward.

Fashion4Ward is all about the fusion of fashion and music – where glamour and rock collide in the name of a very good cause. The launch of Fashion4Ward brought together collections from leading Australian designers, Alex Perry, Collette Dinnigan and J’Aton, with performances from Sony Music artists Rogue Traders and Amy Meredith. The launch event featured contestants from Australia’s Next Top Model on the catwalk and will screen in an upcoming episode of the series.

Funds raised at Fashion4Ward will go towards Sony Foundation’s You Can campaign to help build youth cancer wards across the country.

Get all the goss on the glamorous night at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcnt9lwaZOI&feature=related

On Monday, 17 May, Socceroos captain Lucas Neill, Australian Cricket captain Ricky Ponting, Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom and former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, joined with other captains of sport, the arts, business and politics at Sony Foundation’s Australian Captains’ Dinner to generate awareness of our You Can campaign.

The evening, held at the magnificent Astral Restaurant, Star City, attracted well-known Australian leaders and champions, past and present, including The Hon. Tony Abbott MP, The Hon. Bob Hawke AC, John Eales AM, Grant Hackett OAM and Libby Trickett OAM. Other guests included Peter Overton, Jessica Rowe, Brett Lee, Matt Preston, Barry O’Farrell MP, Natarsha Belling, Natalie Gruzlewski, Tom Williams, Samantha Armytage and the evening’s charismatic host, Alan Jones AO.

In a night celebrating Australian leadership, Sony Foundation Ambassador Lucas Neill was the first to call on Australian heroes to use their influence to secure the survival of our 15 to 30 year olds, asking his fellow leaders to “Stand shoulder to shoulder with Australian teenagers, to ensure every young person has the chance to become one of our next Australian Captains”.

In his address former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, encouraged all the captains in the room to get behind the You Can campaign, “I'm confident we're going to get there - drag out your mobile phones, the old ones, all those loitering in your top drawer at the office. It makes a difference. Hop into it, it's worthwhile”.

For a full run down of the evening visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDvk6G0ggcg