#PurpleOurWorld was founded in October 2014, after the death of wife, mom and sister Rochelle Goulburn. To coincide with the inaugural World Pancreatic Cancer Day, they asked everyone we knew to wear purple and share a picture on social media using the hashtag #PurpleOurWorld and also tweeted to a number of well-known Australian media personalities. Through their retweets they managed to amplify #PurpleOurWorlds message even further. We made it our mission to make as much noise as possible.

Their main areas of focus are to raise awareness, rather than money, as there were already well-known pancreatic cancer charities in Australia and when they started. They did not want to dilute the fund pool. Since they formed their charity partnerships, they have also formed The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Alliance. The Alliance meets quarterly to share ideas and projects, as well as collaborate on several initiatives and lobby the government for further funding and awareness. They dedicate their time to purely raising awareness, both on social media and with corporate organizations. Some campaigns have been big, for example, WPCD messaging in Westfield shopping centers in Australia, USA and UK, and some have been smaller, such as corporate organizations changing their signatures to purple for the month of November. On social media, they share facts, information about the pancreas, stories, and official WPCD communications and assets.

Ongoing Projects

Since #PurpleOurWorld is an awareness-raising initiative, they appreciate all the assets that the WPCC provides them, as well as the information sessions that have been available throughout the year. At the end of the day, they are about sharing information to educate the community, so as long as WPCC keeps providing resources, they will keep sharing them.

In the upcoming year,  #PurpleOurWorld is looking forward to working with the WPCC to motivate the global community to band together and help in raising awareness and funds for pancreatic cancer. They look forward to collaborating on an even deeper level with their fellow WPCC members in the coming year.

To learn more about the #PurpleOurWorld, visit their Member Page