The beloved Project host has set up her own foundation, Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, and will be jumping straight into fundraising with an inaugural charity music festival called Brain Beats 2015 on December 6th.
“Given that so many people who die from brain cancer are under the age of 40, I felt a party that celebrates great music, great food and great local talent would be the way to go,” Carrie explained about her inspirational new venture.
With the help of Australia’s most prolific tour promoter, Michael Gudinski, the 34-year-old has gone all out with a stellar line up including global superstar, Ed Sheeran, British band Rudimental, and local stars like Vance Joy and Bliss and Eso.
Speaking to The Project, Michael admitted like the rest of the nation, he was moved by Carrie’s gold Logie speech earlier in the year.
“[It was] was incredible. I couldn’t say no and little Ed [Sheeran] is looking forward to it,” Michael said.
Network rivalry was pushed aside as the Australian media banded together for the county’s golden girl following her inspirational speech, which drew attention to brain cancer.
In May, Carrie used the award’s ceremony to shine the spotlight on brain cancer, after losing her 34-year-old husband, Greg Lange to the illness in 2010.
“After the Logies speech I was kind of completely overwhelmed by it all, I didn’t know where to start or what to do,” Carried admitted to her panel co-hosts on Monday evening.
The mum-of-two explained how the survival rates for brain cancer have not improved in three decades and how tragically one Australian is diagnosed with the disease every five hours and one dies every seven hours.
Six months after her prolific acceptance speech, Carrie’s been hard at work and it certainly has paid off!
In a bid to raise over $1 million, Carrie won’t only be providing great food and some stellar tunes but a night of comedy.
She’s enlisted the help of her mates Peter Helliar and Dave Hughes, who’ll both feature in the line-up at the Melbourne-based event.
“I remember when you first mentioned it to me you were thinking of something, I thought about a trivia night at the local club. Ed bloody Sheeran,” Pete quipped about his friend’s impressive efforts.
It’s evident how much the Channel Ten personality has touched the country’s hearts, admitting she is contacted by the public daily.
“Everyday I get emails from families whose loved ones have brain cancer, from foundations wanting me to help them and I thought, just how can I help everyone?,” Carrie expressed to the Project audience.
“If I set up a foundation, my aim is to raise as much money as I can. I am going to start with a million dollars and then I can give it to researchers, who are doing great work, and hopefully they can find some more effective treatments and maybe, maybe one day they can find a cure.”
To find out more on how you can donate or purchase tickets, head to Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer’s website here
