Our Organisation

CanRevive  is a registered charity. We help Chinese cancer patients and their families with information service and support groups.

Our Beginnings

Three Chinese women, two former cancer patients and one former carer, experienced the benefits of support groups and the value of information during their battle with cancer. It was their wish that Chinese language speaking cancer patients will be able to have similar supports in their own language.

With the help of Cancer Council and a generous donor who provided free meeting rooms, the women began to offer information service and group meetings in Chinese languages in July 1995. They called their organization “CanRevive”.

It was the first time such a service was ever offered in Australia.

Our Aims

The name CanRevive in Chinese means “making-over of oneself".

We encourage our members to manage their illness by understanding themselves, the cancer they are afflicted with and the treatment they are being given.

We want to provide an environment whereby cancer patients can share their experience with other survivors and learn new skills on the way.

We want to provide our members a sanctuary where they can express their fears and hopes; joys and sorrow without indulging in unrealistic hopes.

Our Services

We provide the following free services:

•           Home and hospital visits by trained volunteers

•           Telephone support for the home-bound

•           Centre based support group meetings

•           Quarterly outings and picnics to places of interest

•           Support for carers of cancer patients

•           Opportunities to learn new interests such as Chinese calligraphy, yoga, singing, and handcrafts

•           Information in Chinese language through:

            - Monthly talks on cancer and related matters by top professionals

            - On-line information from CanRevive Website 

            - A multi-media Library Service           

            - A quarterly newsletter

            - An annual information luncheon

•           We also run an annual fund raising dinner which is our main fund raising  event.

Our supporters

Volunteers form the backbone of our work.

We are aided by:

•           State and Commonwealth Health Department for funding of project

•           Cancer Council of NSW for on-going support

•          Cansupport from Royal North Shore Hospital for training our      volunteers

 •           A panel of expert professional advisors for our various activities

 •           Top bi-lingual  health professionals for monthly information forums                   

•           Financial support from corporate sponsors such as Qantas, Westpac and Chinese community organisations

 •           Financial support from individual donors

 •           Chinese media for promotion   and dissemination of cancer related information

Our Service Statistics

To date, we have helped well over 1000 cancer patients and their families.

Every week, over 80 people attend activities in our centre.

In recent years, our services touch the lives of about 200 new cancer patients each year, one third of them are referred by hospitals and two thirds of them are walk-in’s from the street.

Our strength

We have a culture of dedication, compassion and single mindedness to improve the quality of life of cancer sufferers.

We draw on the traditional strength in the Chinese culture of interdependence. We enhance the support of the family, the community and at the same time, emphasize the spirit of self-reliance.

As a volunteer based service, we have low administrative costs and a flat management structure.

We have unstinting support from our members, patients who share their spiritual strength with fellow members.

We have recognition from all levels of government.

We have generous donors.

How you can help?

If you are a corporate body, sponsor our activities and put us in your charitable donor's list.

If you are professionals in the health field, join our panel of speakers' list.

If you are a cancer patient or a family member, contribute your ideas and keep up with our activities.

If you are a government funding body, let us know how you can help us gain more funding and provide better service.

All donations made to CanRevive Inc. are tax deductible.