By Claire Reaney 

While many families continue to face significant pressures, especially when illness touches their lives, one thing remains clear: people want to help.

At Humpty, we are proud to stand alongside our donors, partners and clinicians who share that belief. For 35 years, we have worked together to provide care that keeps families together and closer to home, while strengthening local health services and supporting clinicians, particularly in regional and rural communities that remain so deeply connected to our supporters.

2025 has been another remarkable year for the Foundation. We now support 515 hospitals and health services across the country, and in 2025 we delivered 575 pieces of life-changing paediatric and neonatal medical equipment. But it is the stories behind these numbers that leave the greatest impression on the Humpty team and continue to give purpose to our work. Recently, I visited the Grace Centre at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. Professor Nadia Badawi and Dr. Himanshu Popat welcomed our supporters into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, offering a firsthand look at the impact of donated equipment marked with the yellow Humpty sticker.

The Grace Centre cares for some of the state’s most vulnerable babies, including premature and critically ill infants, many requiring surgery. Humpty has supported the unit for more than 20 years. As I walked the corridor with Nadia, she shared something that stayed with me.

“We are forever indebted to Humpty, not just for the lifesaving equipment the Grace Centre has received, but because when babies need to be transferred here, they often arrive stronger and in better condition thanks to the equipment Humpty supporters may have provided at the other end.”

Of course, it makes sense. But I realised I had not fully taken a moment to see the bigger picture.

We are the link. Humpty is the link. And you, our supporters, are the link that makes better outcomes possible for children across New South Wales and beyond, particularly for those transferred from regional and rural communities.

So whether your support is directed to a major metropolitan hospital or a small health service in a country town, know that we are all connected, working together to change lives. There is no doubt that Humpty’s impact in improving health outcomes for babies and children has been built on foundations of care, trust, and a reputation for delivering results.

One of the most significant examples of this is Humpty’s Fight for Sight initiative.

In 2023, a statewide clinical consensus convened leading neonatologists and developmental paediatricians across New South Wales. Together, they identified a critical gap in how babies at risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) were being screened and supported. As survival rates for premature babies continue to improve, demand for specialist eye screening has increased — placing growing pressure on a system reliant on a small number of highly specialised clinicians.

For these babies, timing is everything. Without early detection and treatment, the consequences can be profound, leading to lifelong visual impairment or, in some cases, blindness.

Screening for ROP is crucial for premature or at-risk newborns

Humpty was invited to be the preferred delivery partner to help bring a new model of care to life. Working in partnership with clinicians, we funded and implemented digital retinal imaging across the state’s busiest Neonatal Intensive Care Units, delivering five ICON Digital Retinal Cameras. At more than $200,000 per camera, this was a significant investment — one our Board and Medical Program Advisory Committee agreed was vital. Not only would it transform outcomes for some of our most vulnerable newborns, it would also bring NSW back into alignment with national best practice.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, this technology is now in place across five major Neonatal Intensive Care Units, enabling earlier diagnosis and a gentler screening experience for fragile newborns. This initiative is about far more than new equipment. It is about protecting sight at the earliest and most vulnerable stage of life. It represents a meaningful shift in how care is delivered — ensuring babies receive a consistent standard of care regardless of where they are born, and providing families with greater confidence at an already uncertain time.

We are deeply grateful to the supporters who made this possible: The Audi Foundation for Royal North Shore Hospital, Fred and Anni Penney for Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, The Beluga Foundation for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, The Estate of Lorna Blackwood for Westmead Hospital, and our anonymous donors, alongside Sandra Burcher and Wendy Volckman for Royal Hospital for Women. Each contribution reflects a shared commitment to protecting sight and giving babies the strongest possible start in life.

As I reflect on our work, what stands out most is the depth of our reach and connection. Behind every project and every piece of equipment are people — donors, partners, clinicians and families — coming together with care at the heart of all they do.

To our supporters, thank you for standing with us. Your compassion, especially during challenging times, is extraordinary.

Together, we are proving that when communities come together, real change is possible, and hope is never out of reach.