In February 2015, a firefighter by the name of Matthew Pridham approached Macquarie University with an idea to create a fundraising event to raise $50,000 for motor neurone disease research. Matthew's best friend Adam Regal, a loving husband and father of two, was diagnosed with MND in 2013 and is treated at Macquarie. Matthew's idea entailed recruiting 10 of his fellow firefighters to raise $50,000 to support Macquarie University's MND Research Centre. Macquarie saw value and potential in this idea, so Macquarie University made a commitment to run and manage this event in partnership with Matt Pridham, who took of the role of lead volunteer.
From the Judges' Report
The execution of the Firefighters Climb for MND targeted campaign was flawless – very moving and a great use of marketing, volunteers, and a community organization. This campaign leveraged multiple channels to deliver meaningful messaging using industry best practices. This kind of grassroots-style campaign can be difficult to execute as an institution, but this was a huge success. The results were compelling and the videos truly made this entry exemplary.
