About Us

Helping people diagnosed with breast cancer through direct support and connection to services in the region.

Bosom Buddies is an independent charity and is the only organisation in the ACT dedicated solely to providing personalised on the ground support services to help those in the community affected by breast cancer.

Our history: A buddy group was formed in 1995 by Shirley Fitzgerald to support a friend who had been newly diagnosed and was about to start her breast cancer treatment. It was soon realised that there were other women in a similar situation who perhaps didn’t have a group of supportive friends - and Bosom Buddies was established.

Today, Bosom Buddies continues as a volunteer-based organisation, the majority of whom have experienced breast cancer, who are drawn together to continue the mission of supporting everyone affected by breast cancer and their loved ones.

All funds stay in the area and are used to provide free support to people affected by breast cancer in the ACT and surrounding NSW region.

Management Committee

Our Management Committee is diverse and includes breast cancer survivors, and people from different professional backgrounds, and they are all passionate about ensuring that Bosom Buddies is able to continue to support the community into the future.

The team comprises four (4) Office Bearers and five (5) ordinary members who work closely with the Executive Officer who provides regular reports on the status of our programs and the general business of the organisation.

A new team was appointed at the Annual General Meeting held at Pearce Community Centre in the ACT on 22nd November 2023.

Gail Murray: President

Gail is the Principal Broker at Gallagher. She specialises in insurance for the Disability and Not For Profit Sector and is an endorsed broker for the National Disability Service.

Office Bearers

Lynn Bean : Vice President

Before retiring, Lynn was a lawyer and Federal Government official in the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Justine Gibbings: Secretary

Justine has qualifications in statistics and data analysis gained in both Australia and Canada. Before retiring she worked in social policy mainly for the Department of Social Security (and its various successors). 

Jacklyn Ersan : Treasurer

Jacklyn is the Assistant Manager at Nexis Accountants and Business Advisors.

Ordinary Members

Shantanu Bhattacharya

Shantanu is our Public Officer. He is an enterprise architect and has over eighteen years of executive and board-level experience across the public and commercial sectors.

Lyn Grigg

Dr Grigg is a qualified accountant and lectured at universities and TAFE on accounting policy before retiring. She is now very active in the LGBTIQA+ community and is also a member of the Qwire and an enthusiastic ukele player and drummer.

Heather Jackson

Heather has had a varied career in the public and not for profit sectors and has volunteered in many roles. As a breast cancer survivor she is eager to volunteer for Bosom Buddies, on the committee and also as part of the support team.

Narelle Sargent

Narelle is our Fundraising Coordinator and has over 20 years experience as a pro-bono Board Director. She has extensive executive experience in NSW and ACT government, the private and not-for-profit sector.

Martini Skidmore

Martini’s background is as a Client Advisor. She has a Bachelors Degree in Communication and Social Relations.

Catherine Rider-Aichholzer : Executive Officer

Catherine has a medical secretarial, business management and executive officer background. She has extensive experience in medical,corporate, government and not for profit environments.

A Bit About Bosom Buddies and What We Do

We are the only charity in the ACT dedicated solely to providing personalised support to those affected by breast cancer in the region.

Helping People Get the Support They Need

Bosom Buddies is proudly an independent ACT based charity that relies solely on the generosity of the community to keep the lights on! Established in 1995, we have actively provided free personalised support to people diagnosed with breast cancer and their loved ones in Canberra and the surrounding NSW region for nearly 30 years. We provide a community, support and resources to help you and your loved ones.  

Unlike a lot of our cancer counterparts, our organisation relies on donations and doesn’t receive funding from the government or the larger national cancer organisations. That’s right, we can only continue to operate as long as our lovely community joins us in our goal to support those affected by breast cancer in the region.  

People Not Research: We’re not a research organisation; our mission is to provide free on the ground support to those diagnosed with breast cancer. In comparison with other cancer organisations, the Bosom Buddies team is small with one person working behind the scenes administering our programs and our volunteers, who donate their time to keep this local charity ticking over. We really can only continue to help the community with the aid of our wonderful volunteers, supporters, and donors. All donations stay local and directly support people in the community.

ACT and NSW Regional Support Groups: Our support team volunteers are various ages and are at different stages in their lives; but they have one thing in common – they are all survivors who understand what it is like to have breast cancer. They provide one-on-one peer support to people from when they are diagnosed, during treatment and following their treatment; and facilitate regular support groups for those going through their cancer journeys – all in their own time and in a safe and supportive setting. These support groups provide a sense of belonging and allow participants to share how they are feeling and connect with people who get it – who are going through or have gone through a breast cancer diagnosis.

Breast Awareness and Early Detection Information Sessions: Bosom Buddies provides information on the services available in the region and conducts breast awareness and early detection sessions to the community on how to self-check to support themselves.

Oncology (Neoadjuvant) Packs: We provide packs to oncology nurses for patients being treated with chemotherapy before their surgery. This ensures that they don’t miss out on the information or Buddy Gifts given post-surgery to patients. We also gift knitted items created by volunteers to give a “warm hug” during treatment.

Helping People Get the Support They Need: We help those diagnosed with breast cancer who are unable to afford post-surgery garments due to financial constraints.

Buddy Bags: Ever heard of a Buddy Bag?

Our Buddy Bags are full of helpful items made by our volunteers, information on post-surgery care and the services available in the region. These bags are gifted by us to patients’ post-surgery in Canberra’s public and private hospitals by the Breast Care Nurses, and given free of charge to McGrath Breast Care Nurses to be gifted to patients in the NSW surrounding region so that they don’t miss out on the useful items.

In 2023 more than 850 Buddy Bags were assembled and included over 2,500 patient aids/items made by our volunteers for breast cancer patients. Sounds a lot, right?

If you are interested in volunteering or can donate or contribute in any way to a local independent charity that does big things – please feel free to contact us – we’d love to hear from you!

Call on 0406 376 500 or email admin@bosombuddies.org.au