Who we are
Helping people through direct support and connection to services in the region.
Bosom Buddies ACT is an independent charity that relies solely on the generosity of the community to keep the lights on!
Established in 1995 by Shirley Fitzgerald to help a friend; we have continued to support people diagnosed with breast cancer and their loved ones in Canberra and the surrounding NSW region for nearly 30 years.
Today, Bosom Buddies is a not-for-profit organisation of volunteers, the majority of whom are breast cancer survivors, who are drawn together to continue with this mission.
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 six (6) 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, ACT on 22nd November 2023.
President
Gail Murray 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.
Vice President
Before retiring, Lynn Bean was a lawyer and federal government official in the Senior Executive Service (SES).
Secretary
Justine Gibbings 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).
Treasurer
Jacklyn Ersan is the Assistant Manager at Nexis Accountants and Business Advisors.
Public Officer
Shantanu Bhattacharya is an enterprise architect and has over eighteen years of executive and board-level experience across the public and commercial sectors.
Fundraising Coordinator
Narelle Sargent 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.
Julie Abbey
Julie is a breast cancer fighter. She’s a retired nurse and medical receptionist. Julie is the mother of 3 girls and 4 granddaughters so is very busy but wanted to join the team to give back to the organisation that gave so much to her.
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.
Martini Skidmore
Martini’s background is as a Client Advisor. She has a Bachelors Degree in Communication and Social Relations.
Executive Officer
Catherine Rider-Aichholzer (Ike-holzer) is an experienced executive officer in corporate, government and not for profit environments. She has a medical administration/secretarial background having previously worked at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust UK, one of the largest cancer treatment centres of its type in Europe as well as other overseas hospitals.
Our programs and services focus on our mission to support everyone in the community diagnosed with breast cancer and their loved ones, and to raise community awareness about how to be breast aware to support yourself.
Programs
As an inclusive charity we support everyone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer; however we recognise that the majority of those that we support are women (she/her).
