The World’s Greatest Shave is arguably Australia’s favourite fundraising campaign, with more than two million Australians taking part by shaving, cutting and colouring their hair to raise vital funds for the Leukaemia Foundation and people living with blood cancer in Australia.
The World’s Greatest Shave, however, wasn’t immune to the devastating impact of COVID-19, which created the most formidable challenge the campaign had faced in its 26-year history. With the World’s Greatest Shave being the single biggest source of income for the Leukaemia Foundation, the organisation took a significant hit and saw fundraising figures drop dramatically.
The World’s Greatest Shave had to pivot, and this year, we farewell the beloved chins as we launch a new era of the campaign, with a vibrant, bold, contemporary and more personal approach — to support the growing number of Australians impacted by blood cancer.
The new-look World’s Greatest Shave celebrates the everyday heroes in our community doing ‘bloody beautiful’ acts of shaving, cutting, colouring or donating. The new creative direction will feature actual human participants and a catchy new slogan, ‘That’s Bloody Beautiful’, which will resonate more deeply with Australians.
There has never been a more important time for World’s Greatest Shave to be back in force, with more Australians diagnosed with blood cancer now than ever before, underscoring the urgent need for increased support, additional resources and more funds.
More than 140,000 Australians are currently living with blood cancer. The incidence of blood cancer has soared by 47 per cent in the past decade, making it a significant public health issue in Australia.
Funds raised through the World’s Greatest Shave ensure that the Leukaemia Foundation can continue to provide vital support to blood cancer patients and their loved ones and fund ground-breaking research in the hopes of one day finding a cure.
We urge the Australian community to sign up to shave, cut, or colour their hair for the World’s Greatest Shave. Go to worldsgreatestshave.com
Chris Tanti,
Leukaemia Foundation chief executive