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Law firm legacy supports Kids with Cancer this Christmas
Coleman Greig Lawyers has made donations in part of its Christmas initiative to support Kids with Cancer in the Back on Track program.
Tony Zhang
According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is a leading cause of death for children and adolescents worldwide. No family wants to receive the news that their child has cancer. Sadly, this is the reality for over 950 children and teenagers in Australia each year.
The Back on Track program is essential to keeping children who are undergoing treatment for cancer connected to their school, both academically and socially. Thus, the negative impacts of cancer and its treatment, and extended school absence are minimised and the long-term educational opportunities of childhood cancer survivors are significantly improved.
According to Coleman Greig principal lawyer Andrew Grima, who is the driver of many Coleman Greig community partnerships, it was an easy decision to support Back on Track.
“We first heard about Back on Track when we were approached by Sallwa Hourani, the granddaughter of Malcolm Greig, one of our firm’s founding partners,” Mr Grima said.
“She works as an education co-ordinator with the program and explained that it was under threat of shutting down as a result of COVID-19. Being able to give back to the community and support such a worthy cause, that is also important to a direct family member of Malcolm Greig, is an absolute honour!”
The Back on Track program provides life-changing support to families living through the experience of childhood cancer.
“We were first introduced to Back on Track in the Oncology Clinic at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Sallwa was our education co-ordinator and she visited Hayden in hospital each day where he participated in engaging and fun bedside learning which took his mind off the gruelling treatment,” Brooke, mother of 7-year-old Hayden, said.
“She also visited Hayden’s school to educate the staff about how best they could support him during his treatment and in the years to come. Sallwa’s advocacy for Hayden at this time was so crucial and something which we could not have accomplished on our own.”
Ms Hourani herself is pleased that her grandfather’s legacy, and commitment to the community, is living on through the firm.
“I am so delighted and grateful that Coleman Greig is donating $10,000 to the Back on Track program! It is most encouraging, and I know that my grandfather would be very proud of supporting such a critical service for these children and their families,” she said.
