New partnership for Audi Foundation

A specially designed Discovery Centre at the Sydney Children's Hospital Randwick redevelopment, will carry the Audi Foundation name as part of a new partnership with Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation (SCHF). The new facility, designed as a play and experience area for sick children to enjoy during their treatment, will play an important part in the treatment of sick children, providing a more positive hospital experience for the young patients and their families during ongoing care.

The Discovery Centre, which will occupy a large open plan area near the main entrance to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, will be an interactive space designed to provide a hands-on learning experience.

As well as offering an interactive environment in which to explore the worlds of clinical health and science in a child-friendly, playful environment, the centre will also provide a welcome distraction to patients and their families from the pressures and worries of undergoing medical treatment. 

The Audi Foundation will provide $1 million over the next five years to help make the Discovery Centre a reality and provide a positive impact on the medical care of young people and their families.

“The Audi Foundation is proud to partner with Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation in realising this important new addition to the Randwick hospital facility,” Jeff Mannering, Chairman of the Audi Foundation said of the partnership.

“The new Discovery Centre will play an important role in the hospital experience as well as helping to alleviate the pressures associated with ongoing medical treatment for those most vulnerable among us and their families.

With an increasing population comes an increased demand for paediatric services, with the number of children aged up to 15 years projected to increase by some 1.74 million by 2031. At current rates, each year more than 150,000 sick or injured children are cared for by the dedicated team of health professionals right across the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network and the ongoing investment in new buildings at the Randwick and Westmead facilities will also see a greater emphasis on collaboration between clinicians and researchers for what is described as a ‘true bench to bedside model’.

Since its inception in 2017, the Audi Foundation has actively supported specific not-for-profit organisations with a proven record in their respective areas, with medical research and care forming one of the Foundation’s key pillars. 

To that end, amongst the Audi Foundation’s charitable partners are organisations like The Humpty Dumpty Foundation and the Children’s Cancer Institute’s ZERO program, helping to buy much needed medical equipment for children’s wards and funding vital ongoing research into childhood cancers respectively.

The new partnership with SCHF and the Discovery Centre represents another area which will deliver tangible benefits to countless families and their sick children, building on the Audi Foundation’s key medical pillar as well as its commitment to help improve the lives of those living in areas in which the brand operates.

The Discovery Centre at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, is expected to be fully operational by late 2025.