The celebrities on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here Australia 2023 have revealed their chosen charities during a heart-felt episode.
While there was no shortage of LOLs during the April 13 instalment, the campfire turned to a puddle of tears as the stars revealed who they were playing for at home.
Scroll through for a list of the I’m a Celeb 2023 chosen charities.
CONTENT WARNING: This article contains references to mental health and may be triggering for some readers.
Woody Whitelaw — Dementia Australia
“The charity I have chosen is Dementia Australia, because all four of my grandparents have been impacted,” Woody told his campmates. “The hardest part about it was seeing my parents not just deal with memory loss but also mood shifts.”
About Dementia Australia
Dementia Australia exists to support and empower the estimated more than 400,000 Australians living with dementia and the more than 1.5 million people who are involved in their care.
Find out more here.
Pete Helliar — Legacy
“My charity is Legacy. They look after veterans who come home from war and their family. Late last year I found out that my great grandfather Rupert had served at Gallipoli and I had no idea. He did come back but he was never the same,” Pete told the other celebs.
“He tried and tried and tried to get support. He had to fight our own government after fighting a war for our own government for 10 years to get the pension. The cruel irony is that this is still happening.
“I think if we can’t afford to support our service men and women, then we can’t afford to go to war.”
About Legacy
In 1923 Legacy made a promise to help veterans’ families carry on with their lives after the loss or injury of their loved one. It was a simple promise that Legacy keeps today; providing the same stability, guidance and assistance that a partner would normally provide to his or her family.
Today, the organisation supports 40,000 partners and children of veterans who gave their lives or health serving our country.
Find out more here.
Harry Garside — The Reach Foundation
“My charity is the Reach Foundation… the Reach Foundation entered my life when I was 16-years-old. They came to my school, and a teacher forced me to go to the workshop. It was such a turning point in my life, and I’m really grateful that day happened,” Harry said.
“I think the Reach Foundation gave me emotional intelligence and emotional awareness. If more young people could have Reach, I think the world would be an amazing place.”
About the Reach Foundation
Reach helps connect with young people. They work to uncover what’s holding them back and equip them with the tools to set goals, deal with conflict, and stand up for what they believe in.
Find out more here.
Liz Ellis — Share the Dignity
“When I was thinking about my charity that I wanted to support, I walked into my local library with my kids, and in the toilet, there was what’s called a dignity vending machine and I was intrigued,” Liz revealed.
“I found out about it and the charity is called Share the Dignity and it works to provide period products to women who are fleeing domestic violence, who are homeless, who are living in poverty, who are living on the breadline. It just hit me that there will be so many women who would have to make the choice whether to buy period products or whether to buy food to put on the table.
“I’ve got a little girl and I’d hate for her to be in that position.”
About Share the Dignity
Share the Dignity is a women’s charity in Australia, that works to make a real difference in the lives of those experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or doing it tough. They distribute period products to women, girls, and anyone who menstruates who needs support.
Find out more here.
Adam Cooney — Cerebral Palsy Support Network
“My charity is the Cerebral Palsy Support Network. They provide a range of different services for people with cerebal palsy. The reason why I chose that, is our eldest, Ash, she’s got cerebral palsy. She had a stroke at birth,” Adam shared with the group.
“For a period, they didn’t know if she would be able to walk. Eventually, we got there and she took a few steps by herself when she as about five and she’s a pretty special little girl.”
About the Cerebral Palsy Network (CPSN)
For over 20 years, the CPSN has been serving individuals and families living with cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions. In partnership with their members, they share knowledge, create connections and provide support.
Find out more about here.
Bianca Hunt — Indigenous Literacy Foundation
“Education is the reason I’m able to do what I do and it’s always been a big focus for me,” Bianca told the group. “So my charity is the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
“They focus on ensuring that kids, especially in rural and regional and remote areas get access to books in order to develop their understanding, their literacy [and] their education.
“If you educate one person, it educates a community.”
About Indigenous Literacy Foundation
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is a national charity working with remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia to improve literacy rates.
Find out more here.
Ian “Dicko” Dickson — The Australian Children’s Music Foundation
“My charity is the Australian Children’s Music Foundation,” Dicko revealed. “Only around 25% of Australian kids have access to free music education, which, on the face of it, doesn’t seem like a terrible thing. But music really does aid with literacy and numeracy.
“A lot of our programs go out to disadvantaged kids, Indigenous communities, youth correctional services. They go to a lot of schools where there’s a high proportion of refugees and kids in class who don’t have English as their first language.”
About the Australian Children’s Music Foundation (ACMF)
The ACMF is a not-for-profit organisation inspiring creativity and imagination by providing weekly music education classes and instruments to disadvantaged children and youth at risk throughout Australia.
Find out more here.
Nick Cummins — The Kimberley Spirit Foundation
“My charity is The Kimberley Spirit Foundation. They are a high vibe, positive mob from East Kimberley all the way through to Broome. I’ve seen some of the work they do.
“They’re going up to the Indigenous communities and feeding the children. The smile on their face when you bring out a good old feed and even a footy. They mentor them, shed some light, bring heaps of love and feed the kids.”
About The Kimberley Spirit Foundation
The Kimberley is an isolated region that has the highest rate of suicide in the nation, particularly amongst Aboriginal people (who constitute half of the Kimberley’s population).
Kimberley Spirit Foundation has a vision to help reduce youth suicide and empower the next generation to thrive, not just survive. They dream of fit and healthy kids who are livin’ their best life and thriving on-country.
Find out more here.
Anna Polyviou — Dress for Success
“Mine is Dress for Success which is a non-profit organisation and it’s about empowering women,” Anna said. “Last year was a hard year for me. My businesses were falling down and I still had to pay staff. There were bills that we were required to pay.
“I was suicidal because of it,” she tearfully admitted. “It was just the depression during the whole period, and I was suicidal. But, I think the hard part is, I never asked for help… it’s OK to ask for help and these women are going there [and] asking for help.
“I felt like I had a second chance and I had to find an organisation that was about that.”
About Dress for Success
The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and the development skills to help women thrive in work and life.
Find out more here.
Domenica Calarco — The Leukaemia Foundation
“My charity is The Leukaemia Foundation,” Domenica revealed. “Five years ago we lost my beautiful Uncle Frank to a very rare form of blood cancer and he battled leukaemia from a very young age, from when he was in his 20s, and he went through remission and it came back when he was in his 40s.
“The Leukaemia Foundation, it helped with the transport to and from hospital all the time because my aunty still had to work but he was going to hospital all the time. So, if I can get through this and earn that money for that charity that can potentially get to a cure, maybe one day, it will save someone’s life.”
About The Leukaemia Foundation
The Leukaemia Foundation is a national charity in Australia dedicated to assisting those with blood disorders survive and live a better quality of life.
Find out more here.
Debrah Lawrence — Ovarian Cancer Australia
“My charity is Ovarian Cancer Australia. I’ve been involved with them for the last six years,” Debra said. “We need to raise awareness and to support research which is really important to Ovarian Cancer Australia. It’s very hard to detect. It only has about a 48% survival rate.
“The reason I’m… seven years ago, a very dear, sweet, close friend of mind passed away with ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed five years before that and it was already stage four and she had no symptoms whatsoever.
“I went to see her three weeks before she died and as I left her, know that I wouldn’t see her again, all I could say was ‘See you later, alligator’ and then drove away.
“To say goodbye to a friend, is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do.”
About Ovarian Cancer Australia
Ovarian Cancer Australia is an independent national not-for-profit organisation supporting women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. They provide care and support for those affected by ovarian cancer.
Find out more here.
Nathan Henry — Australian Breast Cancer Research
“My charity is Australian Breast Cancer Research and I chose that charity because my aunty Heather, she fought breast cancer and now she has secondary breast cancer and she doesn’t even know that I’m here doing this for her,” Nathan said.
“Because my whole life she’s been one of my aunty’s who has always encouraged me to be me and when the opportunity to come and do this and just seeing how brave she is, I just wanted to do something to pay her back.”
About Australian Breast Cancer Research
The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is Australia’s leading national body funding game-changing breast cancer research with money raised entirely by the Australian public.
Their vision is simple: stop deaths from breast cancer.
Find out more here.
Aesha Scott — Cancer Council
“My charity, I chose the Cancer Council Australia. I chose it because my beautiful 23-year-old brother Reuben, we found out that he had two really large golf ball-sized tumours in his brain and they were so deep that it was much too risky to operate,” Aesha said through tears.
“They gave him about six months to live but he ended up actually living for a year and a half through some beautiful miracles.
“Reuben, he was 23. I still feel so insanely young and I’m 31. I can’t imagine how… you’re 23, you’re a baby really and he was just in a really exciting place in his life. And it just breaks my heart.”
She continued: “I chose the Cancer Council because every single person is affected by cancer. Everyone knows someone who has passed or been affected by cancer and I just want to do whatever I can to make sure that I can help all of the future Reubens.”
About Cancer Council Australia
The Cancer Council is there to support all Australians affected by cancer through support, research, and prevention programmes. It’s the only charity that works across every area of cancer, from research to prevention and support.
Find out more here.
If you or someone you know is in distress and needs more information, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
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