PALS | The Origin
Originally being known as the Blackfriars Community Student Team, Nathan Bishop started the group in May 2023 with a few of his school mates as a way to honour his three uncles who passed away in palliative care at The Mary Potter Hospice. The group then took a sharp turn in October 2024, where it was given an official name, Pals For Palliative Care, followed by holding their first ever initiative known as the Annual Pals Walk. This marked the beginning of the "community group" stage. However, in July 2025, Nathan was challenged to develop a "distinct vision" as part of his year 11 AIF (Activating Identities & Futures) studies to act as a foundation for the group to follow. This ultimately lead to the conversion into "PALS", an acronym standing for "Positive Actions, Lasting Solutions". Our step into this new foundation strongly showcases our commitment to all actions of charity, and our vision to become a truly universal charity organisation.
PAST INITIATIVES:
Take a look back at PALS' previous initiatives, as we take you through the amazing journey of how we got to where we are today.
01
Walk For Love - 2023
Our first initiative was the 2023 Walk For Love, which saw us raise more than $2,700 raised for The Mary Potter Foundation. A total of 11 students from Nathan's school, Blackfriars, took part in the walk; 9 from year 9 and 2 year 12 Prefects. (The group at this time was known as the Blackfriars Community Student Team.)
02
Laps For Life - 2024
Ian Thorpe's Laps For Life initiative, which was coordinated through the Blackfriars Open A's water polo training squad, saw the team raise over $2,000 for ReachOut Australia supporting youth mental health across Australia. (The group at this time was known as the Blackfriars Community Student Team.)
03
Walk For Love - 2024
A year had already gone by, with the team gearing up for their second time taking part in The Mary Potter Foundation's Walk For Love. Only this time, had significantly higher results.
The group managed to raise a staggering $6,500 for The Marry Potter Foundation, with more than 34 participants, including a range of Blackfriars students in years 9-12, 4 teachers, and a number of representatives from the school's P&F Association. (The group at this time was known as the Blackfriars Community Student Team.)
04
Annual Pals Walk - 2024
This was the first initiative under the newly converted public community group and branded name, Pals For Palliative Care. The inaugural ‘Annual Pals Walk’ was held on 3rd November 2024. This initiative was entirely created, organised, planned, and executed by PALS' founder, Nathan Bishop, as the primary focus for his Year 10 EIF (Exploring Identities & Futures) project.
The preparation for the initiative included organising/attending numerous meetings with teachers & 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 after the walk, and organising signs and banners for the walk.
This was by far the most successful initiative to date for the community group in terms of popularity and participants, with over 50 people from Blackfriars and other local communities taking part in the walk, whilst raising $2,145 for The Mary Potter Foundation.
05
Laps For Life - 2025
Our first of 3 initiatives planned for 2025 was a repeat of Laps For Life. Once again being held throughout the duration of March, this year saw a wider variety of participants, including members of both the middle and senior water polo communities. This year, the Laps For Life team raised over $1,800, with a total of 18 participants swimming 166km throughout the event! (The group at this time was known as Pals For Palliative Care. However, we did use the name, "Pals For Mental Health" with a special logo that was used on our socials during the final week of the event.)
06
Walk For Love - 2025
On the 25th May, a team of 49 walkers band together to take part in The Mary Potter Foundation’s 2025 Walk For Love on behalf of Pals For Palliative Care. Much like the previous Walk For Love events, the group completed a 7km trek around the beautiful streets of North Adelaide, raising awareness for the importance of palliative care in our local communities.
When reviewing our short history, it was discovered that this event was not only our most successful Walk For Love event, but our most successful initiative to date! This is because our 2025 Walk For Love team sits in second for number of participants (49 walkers) and amount raised ($5,481). However, they rank first for our most diverse group of walkers and donors yet, with a wider range of participants from diverse communities walking as one under the Pals For Palliative Care banner!
Coming Up Next
Make sure to check out our upcoming initiatives, that way you can be apart of PALS' history too!
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Thank You!
From everyone at PALS, we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all who have been involved in our previous initiatives to date. Whether it be a small donation, took part in an event, or assisted in promotion, you have all contributed significantly to the growth of PALS as an emerging charity of its own. We hope that those who are already apart of our community stick with us, whilst others jump on board in the near future!