Founder
Nathan Bishop
Take Initiative.
"It took me 4 years to finally have the courage to enter a team in the 2023 Walk For Love; imagine where I would be if I started in 2019, when I first had the idea? The point being is that if you want something done, go and do it yourself, and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Don’t wait for others to make the first move or do it for you. This also corresponds with your dreams, goals, or aspirations in life; the only way you will ever achieve these is if you do the hard yards, remembering that the first step is always the hardest. Most importantly, don’t let others put you down or make you doubt yourself; have self-confidence, believe in whatever you are setting out to do, and ALWAYS be positive!"
Phone:
Email:
0426-701-908
Nathan (pictured in the centre of the front row) with the 2023 Walk For Love Team after completing PALS' first ever initiative.
My Story
Hi, my name is Nathan Bishop, and I am the founder of PALS (Positive Actions | Lasting Solutions). We are an emerging charity organisation ran by a group of dedicated young South Aussies, who share the common goal of providing compassionate support to improve the quality of life for those we serve.
BLACKFRIARS COMMUNITY STUDENT TEAM:
The idea to create and enter a school-based team in The Mary Potter Foundation’s annual Walk For Love came to me back in 2019, when I completed my first walk in honour of my uncle who passed away in 2018. It wasn’t until I found out that another one of my uncles, this being the third relative, was going into palliative care at Marry Potter that I actually built up the courage, motivation, and strength, to rally up a group of my mates to join the 2023 Walk For Love. Little did I know that this would be the birth of something even greater than first imagined.
BRANDING INTO PALS FOR PALIATIVE CARE:
From the success of the 2023/24 Walk For Love events through my school community, it made me think: If this cause touched this many people within my school, imagine how many people would be touched by it from other communities across Adelaide? This led to the creation of Pals For Palliative Care; a concept developed through my EIF (Exploring Identities & Futures) studies as a year 10 Student late last year. The concept was turned into reality through a not-for-profit community group, that had the primary goal of spreading awareness about the importance of giving and providing a helping hand for those who need it within palliative care. This also involved creating various social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, with the hope of expanding our known passion for helping others to new communities. As our primary demographic was, and still is other school students, we aim to create promotion material that is modern, trendy, and appealing, whilst still getting the message across.
Our first initiative under the newly converted public community group was the ‘Annual Pals For Palliative Care Walk’, or ‘Annual Pals Walk’ for short, held on 3rd November 2024. This was the primary focus for my EIF project. This initiative was completely created, organised, planned, and run by me, with having numerous meetings with teachers and The Mary Potter Foundation, contacting and calling SAPOL for regulations, working through work, health, and safety procedures, creating a Consent2Go for students, organising food/drinks for post walk, and organising signs and banners for the walk. This was by far our most successful initiative in terms of popularity and participants yet.
Pals For Palliative Care - Official primary logo
Nathan Bishop + member of 2023 Walk For Love team Lucas Semcesen receiving the trophy for the highest school team fundraiser at the 2023 Mary Potter AGM.
Nathan Bishop directing participants at the 2024 Annual Pals Walk.
PALS - Official primary logo
PALS OFFICIAL Development Program Collage
Nathan Bishop and PALS Marketing Manager Noah Bentley during filming for the PALS - Announcement Video.
THE REBRAND:
Following this initiative, Pals For Palliative Care had seen nothing but success. Our social media pages were growing like no tomorrow, people from different communities were reaching out to us, and we were becoming widespread across Adelaide. This was when it came to me... A Dream. The theory of, what if I could work in my own charity organisation one day... what if I could work in Pals For Palliative Care as my job? For this dream to become anywhere near a reality, I knew that I needed to take the next step forward, but I couldn't do it on my own.
In came the goal of my AIF (Activating Identities & Futures) project: "To take the next step forward". I got to work straight away, establishing the PALS OFFICIAL Development Program, which was aimed at building up the 6 middle school students involved to become the PALS Executive Team once they graduate from the program in December 2025. Through the guidance of my amazing mentors, I was able to create a defined vision for the community group, which was to become a truly universal charity organisation. This vision statement however, required a rebrand into something that represented what a universal charity organisation is, supporting anyone, anywhere, not just a particular cause like we were doing with Palliative Care.
This, was what led to what we are known as now, PALS. Not just a word, but a powerful acronym standing for Positive Actions, Lasting Solutions. The first half of our logo, Positive Actions, states what we do, emphasising how important we regard taking action and actually doing things that can make the change ourselves, rather than just donating a bit of cash and moving on. The second half of our logo, Lasting Solutions, refers to the potential impacts that our actions can have on our world, and the people suffering from severe causes. Moreover, the plural on Solutions, helps to reiterate how PALS is a universal charity organisation, supporting our people no matter when, where, or what the cause is. This directly relates to our organisation's signature phrase; “No matter what, the pals have got you.” It's short, sharp, and simple, allowing anyone to be able to connect and relate to us no matter what they're going through.
Despite all of this and how far I have come, my motivation still remains the same. This is, on a personal note, to honour my three uncles who have passed away in The Mary Potter Hospice, with hope of making the world a better place by giving back to foundations who have done so much for my family. Furthermore, I hope to inspire young people who may have a similar dream as me, to have the confidence to do what they want to do, and to take the world on, knowing that they have nothing to lose.
Life's too short to sit around waiting. Take Action, and believe in yourself. The sky is the limit.
HOW EVERYTHING STARTED
Originally being known as the Blackfriars Community Student Team, I gathered a group of 11 Blackfriars students (9 in year 9, and 2 leaders in year 12), to take part in The Mary Potter Foundation’s Walk For Love event on 25th May, 2023. But here’s the thing – I almost didn’t do it.
You see, I first had the idea to get a team of my school mates back in 2019 after completing my first Walk For Love. When I returned to the Walk For Love Village post walk, I saw a Blackfriars tent, with one of my significant teachers at the time sitting underneath it. I still remember asking him, “Sir, does Blackfriars participate in the Walk For Love?”, in which he replied, “No, it’s for the Blackfriars Old Scholars Football Club”. This got me thinking, what if I got a few of my mates to do the walk each year? Not many, say 4-5 people… it would be a really fun day!
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that I didn’t have the courage then in 2019, and I didn’t have the courage 4 years later in 2023 either. I didn’t even think of doing it really. Until, I say, my mum informed me that my great Uncle Paul was going into palliative care at The Mary Potter Hospice. This would be the 3rd uncle who I would have lost through Mary Potter. Through this conversation, my mother said to me, “Why don’t you get a few of your mates to participate in the walk for love this year?” I replied, the same as I did every year, “Nah it’s too late now, the walk is in like less than a month.” “You say that every year” my mother replied.
She was right.
The amount that The Mary Potter Foundation and the hospice had done for my family and I; they not only took care of my 3 uncles, but they took care of me. I was only 10 years old when my Uncle Peter got moved into palliative care at Calvary. They made the hospice feel safe, like a place where I can escape reality and take my mind off things. I want to not only honour that, by support them in every way I can to enable other families to experience the same heartfelt care and compassion when they are in that tough time too. Celebrating life even at its final stages.
So on the 3rd May, 2023, I sent out my first message to Tom O’Calligan. Tom got back to me within minutes, saying that he thought that it is a great idea and that he is 100% keen. This gave me so much confidence that what I was doing was right. The fact that my mates would still respect me for who I am, acknowledging that supporting charity and helping others is such a strong passion of mine. Another thing that I would like to mention is that Tom, much like the majority of the boys who came out to our first event, are still with me today, making up the absolute heart of the PALS community as one of our original members.
Recent Acknowledgements
28th Jan 2025
Nathan at the Prospect Library after the awards ceremony.
23rd Apr 2025
25th Jun 2025
Nathan with his father after the 2025 Blackfriars Greatest Shave.
2025 Young Citizen Of The Year - City Of Prospect
Through his fundraising efforts and compassionate support of The Mary Potter Foundation, Nathan was named as the City Of Prospect's 2025 Young Citizen of the Year. Blackfriars Communications Officer, along with Director of Wellbeing, who nominated Nathan, said he was an “inspiration”.
“End-of-life care is not something on the radar of most 16-year-olds. But Nathan, through his efforts, has made fundraising for The Mary Potter Foundation an annual focus for our Blackfriars community.” - Communications Officer
“This award not only recognises Nathan’s incredible contributions but also shines a spotlight on the importance of the palliative care work of The Mary Potter Foundation. It’s a cause that requires empathy, courage and a deep commitment to humanity,” - Principal of Blackfriars
Nathan hopes that this recognition would provide a platform for an even bigger fundraising push for future events. He is a member of several bands at Blackfriars, plays a number of instruments and has been elected as both a Music and House Captain for 2025.
“It’s a massive honour to be able to receive this award, I hope this is the start of something bigger, to be able to help even more people.” ~ Nathan said, keeping in mind that he doesn't do the work he does to seek accolades, but they can act as a foundation to take his work further.
Feature - Get Around It SA
Following on from his 2025 Young Citizen Of The Year nod, Nathan was approached through Instagram by the page known as Get Around It, a South Australian initiative launched by the Commissioner for Children and Young People, aimed at showcasing young thinkers, makers, and doers, aged 14 to 22.
Once again, his commitment to people specifically in end of life care does not fail to catch the eye of those around him, with Nathan receiving his own "story" on the Get Around It Instagram page on 23rd April 2025.
Successful Selection - Blackfriars Greatest Shave
In April 2025, Nathan applied to be his House's representative to participate in his school's greatest shave, raising funds for The Mary Potter Foundation. Through Nathan's personal connection to The Mary Potter Hospice, he was very determined and eager to participate in the shave, putting his best efforts in when completing his expression of interest application. Nathan, much to his excitement, was chosen as his house's representative to get their head shaven.
Nathan also played a significant role in preparing the event, through being approached by the Year 12 Prefect Team to help organise the barbers. Through his connections with his Aunt, who is the co-owner of the hair salon and PALS sponsor, HandsForHair, Nathan was able to successfully connect the prefect group with the salon, allowing for the shave to run smoothly.
On the day, Nathan had the opportunity to speak in front of his whole school community both pre and post his head being shaven about PALS and his goals for the future.
