A new collaboration between the Child Cancer Research Foundation and Bolt Coffee Roasters is turning an everyday purchase into an ongoing way to support childhood cancer research and young people beyond treatment.
Most of us already buy coffee. We buy it for home, order it for the office and serve it in cafés across the community. So what if some of that money we are already spending could also help kids and young people affected by cancer?
That thinking is behind GOLD, a new coffee blend created through a collaboration between the Child Cancer Research Foundation (CCRF) and Perth-based Bolt Coffee Roasters.
Launching at Bolt Coffee Roasters in Midland on Thursday 24 September, GOLD offers a simple way for households, workplaces, cafés and businesses to support CCRF through something they are already buying. A portion of every bag sold will support CCRF’s work funding childhood cancer research and supporting young people beyond treatment through our Adolescent & Young Adult (AYA) Survivorship Program. Purchase your bag of GOLD today!
Turning an everyday purchase into ongoing impact
The idea behind GOLD started with a simple question: could something people and businesses already buy every day become an ongoing source of funding for childhood cancer research?
Rather than asking people to find room for another donation, GOLD creates an opportunity to redirect part of an existing household or business expense towards something that can make a difference. Families already buy coffee for home. Workplaces order it for their teams. Cafés can go through kilograms of beans every week.
For CCRF Head of Development Michele Dalton, that is where the potential of GOLD lies.
“People are already buying coffee for their homes, workplaces and businesses. GOLD gives them the opportunity to make that everyday purchase mean something without adding another expense to the household budget.
“If a family changes the beans they use at home, or a workplace or café changes the coffee it buys each month, that purchasing decision can keep contributing to childhood cancer research over and over again. It might be one bag of coffee, but collectively those everyday choices can become something much bigger.”
It is a model designed to extend well beyond a one-off fundraiser. A household might buy a bag every few weeks, while a workplace or café could purchase several kilograms each month. Each purchase creates another contribution to CCRF while giving people something they were going to buy anyway.
Coffee people will want to keep buying
For that model to work over the long term, GOLD also needs to be a coffee people genuinely enjoy and choose to buy again. Created by Bolt Coffee Roasters, GOLD is a small-batch, air-roasted blend with notes of toffee, toasted pecan and chocolate.
Bolt Coffee Roasters Co-Owner and Head Roaster Brooke Whittingham said the team was proud of both the blend they had created and what it could achieve.
“We’re incredibly proud of the delicious blend we’ve created, but we’re even more proud of what it represents. Whether it be a bag of coffee for the workplace or a cup at home, we hope people enjoy the coffee, share it with others and know that by choosing it, they helped CCRF continue to give children a better chance at the future they deserve.”
GOLD has been created to work just as comfortably in the kitchen at home as it does in a workplace coffee machine or café hopper. That gives the partnership room to grow, particularly as more businesses look for practical ways to build community impact into their everyday operations.
A partnership built through community
The collaboration has grown from an existing relationship between CCRF and Bolt Coffee Roasters. Bolt has supported CCRF annual fundraising through the Keep the Flame Alive Quiz Night over recent years, allowing co-owners Katie Saldaneri and Brooke Whittingham and their team to learn more about the Foundation and the work made possible by its supporters.
For Katie, GOLD was a natural extension of Bolt’s longstanding focus on community.
“Community has always been a really important part of what Bolt is about. Whether it’s the people we meet through our cafés, the small businesses we work with, or simply sharing a good coffee with someone, we’ve always believed coffee has a way of bringing people together.
“When the opportunity came up to work with the Child Cancer Research Foundation, it felt like a really meaningful extension of that. We wanted to create something that people could enjoy as part of their everyday lives, while knowing that their purchase was also contributing to something much bigger.”
For two organisations built around community, GOLD creates a practical way for that community to be part of the story too.
From research to life beyond treatment
Established in Western Australia in 1980, the Child Cancer Research Foundation has spent 46 years bringing the community together to support childhood cancer research, raising more than $45 million along the way.
Research remains at the foundation of CCRF’s work because better research can lead to better treatments and better outcomes for children diagnosed with cancer. But our commitment to kids and families does not end when treatment finishes.
For some young people, finishing cancer treatment is the beginning of another period of adjustment. Returning to education, employment, relationships and everyday life can bring challenges of its own. CCRF’s Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Survivorship Program supports young people as they navigate life beyond treatment.
GOLD brings those areas together. Every bag helps contribute to research seeking better outcomes for children with cancer while also supporting young people navigating what comes next.
Launching GOLD in Midland
GOLD will officially launch at Bolt Coffee Roasters in Midland on Thursday 24 September, with CCRF and Bolt Coffee Roasters joined by Steve Catania MLA, Member for Midland, and Hon Klasey Hirst MLC.
For Mr Catania, the occasion has a deeply personal connection. His daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia in May 2025 and underwent months of treatment before he shared earlier this year that she had reached remission. His attendance brings together two important connections to the launch: his family’s first-hand experience of childhood cancer and his role representing Midland, where Bolt Coffee Roasters is based.
Hon Klasey Hirst MLC has also been a strong and longstanding supporter of CCRF, regularly attending the Foundation’s annual Keep the Flame Alive Quiz Night and supporting our fundraising efforts over a number of years.
They will join CCRF CEO Andrea Alexander and Head of Development Michele Dalton, alongside Bolt Coffee Roasters co-owner and Head Roaster Brooke Whittingham and Marketing Manager Beth Hickson.
A piece of CCRF history returns
The launch will also bring a special piece of CCRF history back into the spotlight.
In 2014, thousands of Western Australians came together at Langley Park as CCRF achieved a Guinness World Record with a giant gold ribbon created to raise awareness of childhood cancer. Twelve years later, a section of that original ribbon will be used again, this time for the ceremonial ribbon cutting that officially launches GOLD.
For CCRF, it is a fitting full-circle moment. The ribbon once represented thousands of people physically coming together in support of children with cancer. Its return will now mark the beginning of another community idea, one built around the cumulative impact of small choices made by households and businesses over time.
The way people support our work continues to evolve, but the reason behind it has never changed. Kids and families have always been our reason.
Make the switch to GOLD
GOLD will be available from Thursday 24 September through Bolt Coffee Roasters in Midland and online, priced at $20 for 250 g, $35 for 500 g and $60 for 1 kg.
While individuals and families can make the switch at home, CCRF and Bolt Coffee Roasters are also encouraging workplaces, cafés and businesses to consider the coffee they already purchase each week or month. Switching to GOLD provides a practical way to build support for childhood cancer research into an existing business expense rather than creating another standalone fundraising activity.
Whether it is one bag for home, several kilograms for the office or GOLD in the hopper at a local café, each purchase helps turn an everyday habit into ongoing support for kids and young people affected by cancer.
Good coffee. Brighter futures.
GOLD. Brewing Hope.
