Milkshakes for Marleigh, blood donation advocacy movement wins the Women Changing the World Awards, Global Impact, Non-Profit of the Year
London, 2024
Milkshakes for Marleigh has been crowned the winner of the Non-Profit of the Year category for global impact at the Women Changing the World Awards held at Fairmont, Windsor Park, United Kingdom on 26 May 2024.
Founder of Milkshakes for Marleigh, Kate Fisher described being very surprised and truly humbled to receive such a prestigious award, given the incredible quality of the other finalists and the work they are doing all over the world. The other finalists were women from Zimbabwe, France, United Kingdom and Australia.
Kate says: “I think what elevated me to win the gold award is the universal nature of the need for blood donation. Milkshakes for Marleigh is on a mission to end persistent critical blood shortages in Australia and around the world. I can track the impact it is having by the number of lives saved in Australia by blood donations made to the Milkshakes for Marleigh Lifeblood Team and while I cant measure this in other countries of the world, I can see that the Milkshakes for Marleigh podcast is downloaded all over the world!”
The Women Changing the World Awards were founded by Dr Tererai Trent, who is well-known as “Oprah’s favourite guest” and The Duchess of York, Sarah Fergusson, alongside Australian powerhouse women in business, Peace Mitchell and Katy Garner. The awards showcase the work of changemakers and trailblazers all over the world. Kate was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with Dr Trent and the Duchess while in London to share her work and her creative approach to addressing persistent critical blood shortages. The awards received over 4000 individual nominations and Kate was honoured to be a finalist in the categories of Woman Changing the World in Literature, Social Enterprise of the Year and the Duchess of York’s Unsung Hero Award. While she did not receive an award in these categories she was thrilled to be named as a finalist and extends her congratulations to all the winners.
After receiving the Bronze Award in the Emerging Women of the Year category in 2023, Kate was invited back to London in 2024 to address the Women Changing the World Summit, which was run in conjunction with the Awards. She spoke about to importance of blood donation all over the world and asked delegates to reflect on which one on them would be the 1 in 3 people who will need blood in their lifetime? She spoke about her eight-year-old daughter Marleigh’s lifelong need for blood products to treat Autoimmune Encephalitis.
Kate says: “Autoimmune Encephalitis is a life-threatening condition and there is no cure. Treatment is possible with immunoglobulin infusion made from donated human plasma. For Marleigh this is lifesaving in an acute relapse and life preserving for every infusion in between. Marleigh has had five bonus birthdays thanks to Australian blood donors and she will be dependent on them for life.”
In 2024, Kate released her first book based on the interviews she conducted to the first three seasons of her podcast. Called Milkshakes for Marleigh, it tells extraordinary tales of survival thanks to Australian blood donors. Before it was even available in Australian bookstores, the book achieved Amazon Number One bestseller status in three categories. A truly remarkable achievement for a first-time author. Sales have been strong in Australia, the United Kingdom and United States of America. While she was in London, Kate had the pleasure of attending many book signings and meeting with bookstores that will be stocking her book later in the year in the United Kingdom.
In the days before the Women Changing the World Global Summit and Awards, Kate attended The Podcast Show to showcase The Milkshakes for Marleigh Podcast. It is the biggest international podcasting conference and had over 10,000 delegates attended in 2024. Kate met with actor and host of the This Life of Mine podcast, James Corden to discuss her podcast which is the only one of its kind in the world and was delighted to hear that he is a Milkshakes for Marleigh fan! She was invited to pitch her podcast for further expansion with SiriusXM and iheartradio, these discussions are ongoing.
While in the UK, Kate also launched another book that she has co-authored called Women Making a Difference (published by Women Changing the World Press) and filmed her piece for a docuseries she is in called Hear Us Roar (in association with KMD Books). Both projects have allowed Kate to expand her messaging around the importance of blood donation.
Kate is now focussing on voice recording The Milkshakes for Marleigh book which is due for audio release in late 2024. She is working on a series of children’s books to highlight the importance of blood donation. Kate has an upcoming book and speaking tour with limited availability for speaking engagements in 2024.
Milkshakes for Marleigh is available wherever you get your podcasts and the book is available in bookstores from 1 June 2024. To find out more visit: