Partnering for Good for Starship
Starship, Ruby Seeto and Wallace Cotton
Ruby Seeto has been working with Wallace Cotton since 2009, when she was an 11-year-old cancer survivor, designing colourful tea towels to raise funds for Starship, our national children’s hospital. Ruby’s tea towels have become collectors’ items over the years and her new designs are always eagerly anticipated. Read on to learn how the young patients and families of Starship have benefited from our partnership and discover her latest design.
Raising funds together
The proceeds from the sale of Ruby’s tea towels have enabled us to raise more than $800,000 together. The funds raised from Ruby’s Victoria Sponge Tea Towel design for 2024 was able to fully fund the balance of the Home Hydration for Adolescents Project, enabling young cancer patients to receive part of their treatment in the comfort of their own homes following chemotherapy.
Over the past 16 years, funds raised from Ruby’s tea towels have assisted with multiple projects in Starship Hospital to benefit young patients and their families, including:
Supporting upgrades to the Oncology, Neurology, Medical Specialties wards and a Parent Education Room in the Heart ward.
Equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Supporting an international training fellowship.
Refurbishing the Phlebotomy Laboratory.
The establishment of an ovarian cryopreservation banking protocol to benefit young cancer patients.
Funding new equipment for the Day Stay Unit.
Helping fund a Hospital Play Specialist to work with young patients.
Upgrading the Children’s Emergency Department tearoom.
The Kōrero Pono Project, providing critical insight into whānau experiences of child cancer services.
Home Hydration for Adolescents Project, enabling young cancer patients to receive part of their treatment in the comfort of their own homes following chemotherapy.
Starship Fresh Tomato Salad
Ruby Seeto has shared her fresh and simply delicious Fresh Tomato Salad recipe on her 17th Wallace Cotton tea towel design for Starship. Ruby’s Fresh Tomato Salad is the perfect accompaniment to warm weather BBQs and alfresco dining. Featuring a vibrant design that celebrates the humble tomato for a beautifully eye-catching and fun tea towel that will brighten any kitchen. $6 from the sale of every Ruby Seeto tea towel and $4 from every washcloth set is donated directly to the Starship Foundation. Perfect for gifting as it’s the little gift that gives twice.
Proceeds from Ruby’s Starship Fresh Tomato Salad Tea Towel and Washcloths will help fund a multi-million dollar transformational Oncology Project focusing on childhood cancer treatment in NZ. The Oncology Project aims to establish an advanced cell therapies programme, including Car T Cell Therapy, to offer haematology/oncology leaders a two-year training fellowship, and refurbish the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to provide world-class care in New Zealand.