Another Good Friday at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

© The Good Friday Appeal

102,500 Victorians visited Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) to support the Good Friday Appeal*, raising over $23 million to provide life-saving care for kids.

The record-breaking donations will help The Royal Children’s Hospital continue its ground-breaking research, fund state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and family-focused care programmes.

MCEC Chief Executive, Natalie O’Brien AM said the Good Friday Appeal is a wonderful demonstration of MCEC’s commitment to supporting the local community:

“This was my first Good Friday Appeal, I was so pleased to be in amongst all the activity. It is so heart-warming to see the community gather and raise much-needed funds for such an important cause. You can see how much joy this event brings to the local community and the MCEC team.”

“The Good Friday Appeal is a major operation, taking over the entire venue. I am incredibly proud of the entire MCEC team for seamlessly delivering such a large-scale event and I was pleased to lend a hand myself in the event lead-up. Every single person involved has made a significant contribution to raising life-changing funds for sick kids,” Ms O’Brien said.

MCEC’s chefs created an interactive Ice Cream-o-Rama for the Kids Day Out, serving 1,500 house-made ice creams for visitors that raised $5000 for the Appeal.

Executive Director of Good Friday Appeal, Rebecca Cowan said, “Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre has been an incredible partner of the Good Friday Appeal for almost a decade, donating countless hours and millions of dollars in waived venue hire, technology, resources, and catering.”

“MCEC provides the invaluable space to house Kids Day Out with over 100,000 visitors, the phone room, money counting room and the all-important behind-the-scenes operations for the Good Friday Appeal. This combined with their team's expertise, flexibility and professionalism makes them an exceptional host and partner. We are incredibly grateful for their ongoing commitment to the Good Friday Appeal to ensure sick kids and their families at The Royal Children's Hospital receive the best medical care,” Ms Cowan said.  

* The Good Friday Appeal is a charity that raises money to enable The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne to provide world class care for our children. The Appeal brings all sectors of the community together to raise funds every year culminating in a telethon on Good Friday.