Cancer is one of the biggest causes of death globally. It is sadly something that impacts many of us, and is a subject particularly close to the hearts of Australia’s ReedPop team following the passing of their teammate and colleague Julian Lai last year.

To honour Julian’s memory, the team set themselves the target of raising $100,000 for Cure Cancer – enough to fund an early career cancer researcher. Proving that not all superheroes wear capes, cancer researchers work tirelessly in laboratories, persevering through long hours, modest pay and an uncertain future. However, the ability to make breakthroughs comes down to funding, a reality that less than 1 in 5 projects receive. Cure Cancer are working hard in these uncertain times to ensure this funding doesn’t stop.

PAX Aus undertook a variety of fundraising initiatives spanning their portfolio of events. These included a 120-hour continuous live stream hosted by GenerOzity, which took place during their most recent event, PAX Online.  The live stream had a jam-packed creative schedule featuring cosplay, squat challenges, live cooking and even some magic. The team also live streamed Jack Box games, playing with fans and their communities, to raise money and awareness, and hosted a trivia night with their colleagues at Reed HQ. The final, target-breaking tally, reached in September during RELX Cares month, was AU$111K.

Reflecting on their achievement, Jono Whyman, Event Director of PAX Aus said: “When we lost our close friend and colleague, Julian last year, it meant a huge amount to us to be able to tap into our community to raise money and help Cure Cancer reach their vision of making this generation the last to die of cancer. We were blown away by the support we received from RXA, our partners, and our fans in helping us reach this goal and we are really humbled that we have been able to fund an early career cancer researcher in Julian’s memory.”

“We are so grateful to the ReedPop team and to all the generous people who donated over the last year” said Cure Cancer’s CEO, Nikki Kinloch. “Cure Cancer is dedicated entirely to funding early career researchers and the money raised by ReedPop will allow another smart young person to take the next step in their medical research career. We have been fortunate to see several major breakthroughs by Cure Cancer funded researchers in the past couple of years and this funding gives us the opportunity to continue more innovative and ground breaking research, which may well lead to further breakthroughs in cancer research in the future.”