A big thank you to everyone who pledged and participated in our Pause 4 Parkinson’s 2023 campaign this year. With the help of 71 fundraisers, 901 donors and 16 sponsors, together we made it a record year and raised over $290,000!

100% of these donations will go directly to funding innovative Australian research that aims to slow, stop and cure Parkinson’s. We couldn’t do this without every single one of our supporters, and we are so thankful for your support.

Our fundraisers were integral in this year’s Pause 4 Parkinson’s campaign, challenging themselves, hosting events and raising funds for Parkinson’s.

Today we celebrate the achievements of our top fundraisers for 2023.

Gary’s Trek 4 Parkinson’s

Gary treks Mt Everest for Shake It Up every year to raise funds for Parkinson’s research – even as a virtual challenge during the pandemic! This year he was accompanied by a group of 8, including Sandi Gerschwitz. Sandi was diagnosed with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD) at age 45 and is trekking to raise awareness and funds to support others with YOPD. While her group was originally trekking to the Mount Everest Base Camp, poor weather meant they were unable to fly to Lukla Airport to get to their destination. But that wasn’t going to stop them! Instead they trekked to Mount Annapurna Base Camp – a massive 110km! They raised more than $11,000 for Parkinson’s research and a huge amount of awareness through media interviews with the likes of 7News, 9Honey and ABC News.

You can listen to our podcast interview with Gary and Sandi here.

Louise & Zach Pace 4 Parkinson’s

Colleagues Louise and Zach smashed their target of $5,000! Zach and his dogs Bruno and Irish certainly burnt up the pavements walking 150km to raise funds, while Louise, along with her dog Sheba, walked a huge 90km in the month of April.

They also held a Pancakes 4 Parkinson’s at their office and hosted barbecues across the country.

Cath’s Picnic 4 Parkinson’s

Cath held a picnic for Pause 4 Parkinson’s 2023 as Parkinson’s is a cause close to her heart – and thanks to the generous support of her friends and family, raised over $3,900 – a huge result given her target was $2,000!

Team Gauci Box 4 Parkinson’s

Angela and Dillon, aka Team Gauci, held their annual Box 4 Parkinson’s event, a Charity Group Boxing Session for Parkinson’s at Bondi Boxing Club. Boxing has been proven to build strength, speed, flexibility, endurance, balance, footwork and delay the symptoms of Parkinson’s. They host the event to bring people together and this year raised over $2,500!

UBX Alexandria Plunge 4 Parkinson’s

The team at UBX wanted to do their part for Parkinson’s in April, and they hosted a ’round 13 ice bath’ on the 1st April, followed by a month of support to raise awareness and funds for Shake It Up. They had a great turnout and raised over $2,200!

Christine’s Picnic 4 Parkinson’s

Christine was a another picnic-er for Pause 4 Parkinson’s, raising over $1,600 for Parkinson’s research! Christine also supported Shake It Up to get the word out about the importance of funding research to find a cure, appearing on 9Honey, Studio10, The Australian and more to bravely share her story with others to raise awareness.