Dreams2Live4 makes dreams come true for adults who are living with metastatic cancer, relapsed Lymphoma, Leukaemia and grades 3-4 brain cancer. Founder Annie Robinson was on her own cancer journey when the opportunity to have a dream come true brought an acute awareness that a dream can energise and empower a cancer sufferer, returning a sense of who they are as a person not what they had become as a patient.

Metastatic cancer drains families of joy, hope and finances. After surviving the devastating impact of the initial cancer diagnosis, the gut wrenching news that it has returned is overwhelming and life shattering. Given the chance to dream, to plan a positive experience, takes this misery away and makes the barriers of their diagnosis become secondary. It gives them back control of their lives and empowers these patients to dream and find purpose again. That is why Dreams2Live4 came into existence. Often cancer patients and their partners cannot work, can no longer do many things that other families take for granted. This is something that Annie Robinson was determined to change. In 1999 when Annie was 4 months pregnant with her first child, she was diagnosed with breast Cancer. After treatment, she went on to live as well as she could for as long as she could, but then cancer returned.

Making Dreams Come True is an Outstanding undertaking of an Exceptional charitable organisation. Dreamers range from 17 to 97 years old, come from all lifestyles, with all types of cancer, and they all have their own unique dreams.  There have been weddings, hot air ballooning, adventures to the reef and snow.  Some dreamers ask to meet their idol – Guy Sebastian, Dawn French, Dolly Parton, The Kings of Leon, Daniel Ricardo – just to name a few.  Other dreamers long to create lasting happy memories for those they leave behind in the form of family photographs, publishing their memoirs, getaways and family reunions. Some want the unconditional love of a puppy for themselves and ultimately for their families. Dreams2Live4’s main objective is to provide adult metastatic cancer patients the courage to apply for and realise their dream. By giving them the ability to do something that is life affirming we are bringing back dignity and hope and treating the soul as well as the disease. All effort at Dreams2Live4 is directed towards the continued growth of both the number of dreams granted and the number of hospitals that are served. This flows on from the mission of Dreams2live4, to give adult metastatic cancer patients a platform to find their dream. Through compassion and humanity giving people a chance to do something that is enjoyable and fun, bringing back their self-esteem.  If a person is living their dreams, they are not dying.

The positive impact of the Dreams2Live4 initiative on the community cannot be underestimated. Numerous forms of feedback indicate the importance of having a dream on the patient and everyone involved. A direct measure is via the Post Dream Survey. Every dreamer on completion of his or her dream receives an email with this survey, and the results to date have been overwhelmingly positive. The positive emotions of the experience lasts beyond the dream itself and the impact goes to the core of the social community of the dreamer. This initiative creates a healthy state of mind in a cancer patient where the word healthy did not previously exist. This increased awareness and engagement after every dream discussion means this initiative continues to succeed in giving terminal cancer patients something to look forward to. 

For further information on Dreams2Live4 Limited visit dreams2live4.org.au