Our Annual General Meeting was a special evening filled with inspirational speakers and wonderful updates. It was a significant year for Arrow, and we enjoyed the opportunity to reflect and celebrate the people, programs and progress that shaped the 2025 financial year.

Thank you to everyone who attended, either in person or online, and to our wonderful supporters, Liverpool Catholic Club for hosting the event.

For those who missed the event, you can watch all of the AGM presentations here, and read all of the detail in our 2025 Annual Report.

Below are some of the key highlights.

Our Impact in FY 2025

This year we continued our mission of supporting bone marrow and stem cell transplant patients and their families.

Our work reached and supported:

• 591 patients and carers
• 23 healthcare professionals
• 3 medical researchers

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed to this collective impact.

Guest Speakers Who Inspired Us

We were fortunate to hear from several remarkable speakers at the AGM who shared their experiences, insights, and contributions to the transplant and cellular therapy community.

Angela Allardyce – Patient Liaison Coordinator

Angela provided us with an update on our expanding patient programs, including the Transplant Tribe and Transplant Talk Live webinars. She then shared her personal journey as a mother to her daughter, Maddy, who was diagnosed with familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) at age 9. Ange shared the difficulty of receiving that diagnosis and the bone marrow transplant treatment that followed, and her gratitude for those that saved her daughter’s life. Her story was a powerful reminder of the resilience of families navigating transplant.

Laura McMahon – Clinical Nurse Specialist, St Vincent’s Hospital

This year, Laura was awarded an Arrow travel scholarship funded by the family of the late Professor Geoffrey Driscoll, enabling her to attend the European Bone Marrow Transplant (EBMT) Conference in Italy. She shared the key learnings and quality improvement projects she is now implementing in her workplace, along with her deeply personal connection to transplant—being a stem cell donor for her brother during his treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Cathy Pendergrast – 2025 PhD Scholarship Recipient

Cathy presented her research focusing on improving early detection of lung graft-versus-host disease following stem cell transplant. Having seen firsthand the life-changing consequences of lung complications, particularly for children, Cathy is exploring two easy-to-administer lung function tests that could enable earlier diagnosis and treatment. Her scholarship is proudly sponsored by the Liverpool Catholic Club, marking their first sponsored Arrow PhD scholarship. Liverpool Catholic Club directors George Ajkay and Lucky Legato, proudly joined us at the AGM and were able to hear directly from Cathy the impact of their contribution.

Thank You to Our Volunteer Directors

We shared our heartfelt gratitude to our board members including:

• David Maywald, who presented his final financial report before retiring from the board. David’s expertise in finance, governance and investment strategy has been invaluable.

• Kim Mouret, who was recognised for her leadership as Chair of the Fundraising and Marketing Committee and her four years of dedicated service.

We also welcomed the reappointment of Associate Professor John Moore, who will continue to serve on the board following his interim appointment earlier this year.

Special Announcement: The Katherine Robertson Nursing PhD Scholarship

One of the most moving moments of the evening was the announcement of the first-ever Nursing PhD scholarship in transplant and cellular therapy in Australia.

Launched by board member Yvonne Panek-Hudson and CEO Richelle Koller, the scholarship honours the late Katherine Robertson and is made possible by a generous bequest from Anne Robertson.

This scholarship opens important doors for nursing research—an area where few nurses have the support to pursue PhD-level study, despite their crucial role in improving clinical outcomes and patient care.

📌 Applications are now open

Arrow-Nursing-PhD-Application-Form-1.pdf

A New Chapter: Introducing Arrow Foundation

We also announced an important update—our name is now Arrow Foundation.

As cellular therapy treatments continue to evolve and “stem cell transplant” becomes the more common term, we have simplified our name to reflect who we are today while remaining true to our purpose.

Our mission remains unchanged: supporting the care and treatment of stem cell transplant and cellular therapy patients, but now you can just call us Arrow.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who attended our AGM and to all who have supported us throughout the year—patients, carers, healthcare professionals, researchers, donors, volunteers and friends of Arrow.

Your support ensures we can continue improving lives, funding critical research, and building a stronger, more connected transplant community.