Marquise support sick kids through pyjama design competition

Marquise have been keeping Victorian children snug and comfortable for over 90 years with their range of baby and kids clothing. For the past two years, they have also been supporting The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), thanks to an innovative design competition, just for kids.

The idea for a pyjama competition originated during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown when Rachael Eade, Marketing Manager at Marquise, was coming up with ways to keep her kids occupied at home.

“My husband and I were both working from home while home schooling our kids. To keep them entertained I came up with a colouring competition for them to do. I spoke to Marquise’s owners Natalie and Daniel about turning this idea into a competition on our social media channels. They loved it and suggested we could sell the winning designs and give the proceeds the RCH,” said Rachael.

The initial competition in August 2020 proved a success, with 60 entries and over $5,000 raised from the sale of the winning designs.

As a result, Marquise decided to turn it into an annual the competition and in 2021, they attracted over 90 entries. One of these was from 10 year old Patrick, a former RCH patient, who ended up being selected as one of the two winning designs.

The two winning designs, created by Patrick and Anika. Photo: supplied by Marquise.

 

When Patrick was almost two, he developed an autoimmune neutropenia, a rare condition that saw the family take regular trips to the RCH until he grew out of the condition.

“After I told Patrick the competition, he spent days drawing different designs which all featured his favourite things – trucks and tractors,” said Patrick’s mum, Alex.

“Patrick was thrilled when he won. I had told him some of the money would go to the hospital and he was excited he could help sick kids get better like he did,” she added.

Patrick, wearing his winning design

For Rachael, supporting the RCH was incredibly important.

“Like most Victorian families, you’ve either needed the RCH’s services or know someone who has. Personally, my son spent a week in the in the hospital as a newborn. He is now 11 and living a healthy life thanks to their care,” said Rachael.

“Working with the RCH Foundation was really rewarding for me personally but also for the company. It’s nice to know the money is going directly towards helping local children.”

Both winning pyjama designs are available for sale in Marquise’s Malvern Central store and online now, with $10 from every sale supporting sick children at the RCH.

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