MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, May 09, 2014
Barnardos Mother of the Year 2014 inspires courage in young
people and their families
Gloria Nascimento from NSW has been named Barnardos Mother of the Year 2014 at a gala luncheon in
Sydney today. Long serving Barnardos Ambassador Noni Hazlehurst made the emotional announcement,
describing Gloria as a shining light of hope and positivity, even during the darkest hours of her grief, after
losing her daughter Cassie, aged 19, late last year.
Gloria was awarded by the charity for her generosity and positive outlook in helping other young cancer
patients and their families to cope with the life-threatening disease, while continuing to care for her own
terminally ill child. Jason Carrasco, who nominated Gloria for the award and was diagnosed with testicular
cancer at age 18, said “I am so thrilled that Gloria has been recognised, not only as a wonderful mother to
Cassie but as an inspiration to many other young people and their families. She really deserves this award for
staying positive and emotionally strong for her daughter and for the selfless support she showed me and other
patients like myself.”
On accepting the award, a visibly overwhelmed Gloria said it was her daughter who inspired her to help other
young people and her daughter’s spirit lived on through them. “I know Cass would be so proud right now. She
always wanted to help others whenever she could. This is all for her – she was the strong one, the one who
gave me courage and who gave so much strength to everyone around her.”
Manisha Amin, Director of Fundraising and Marketing for Barnardos Australia said the awards are to
celebrate exceptional mothering in often very difficult circumstances and all of the finalists were truly
inspirational women. “Gloria is the epitome of selfless motherly dedication. It’s hard to imagine how someone
had the warmth and generosity to give so much to others at such a difficult time in her life. Cass may have
gone but Gloria is still a mother to so many other young people, giving them strength and hope through her
amazing positive attitude and caring.”
The awards, now in their 19th year, were held at Doltone House, Darling Island Wharf and hosted by
Barnardos Ambassador, Lisa Wilkinson. Guests included Smooth FM’s Mel Doyle and Sass & Bide’s Heidi
Middleton and Barry Southgate, who performed on the day and announced the mothers onstage. Newly
appointed Barnardos Ambassador, Mia Freedman delivered the keynote address about the challenges of
modern mothering and the enormous contribution every day mothers make in shaping Australia’s future
generations.
As Barnardos Mother of the Year 2014 winner, Gloria won a $1000 ALDI gift voucher, a three night
Captain Cook Cruises Murray Princess River Cruise for two people, Breville kitchen appliances – Quick
Touch Microwave, Fountain Pro juice extractor and Scraper Mixer Pro, EasyFlowers bouquet at the
National Announcement event, Simone Péréle $500 voucher and a $500 Harlequin School Bag voucher.
The only national awards recognising and celebrating mothering, nominations for next year’s awards are now
open. Any inspirational mother can be nominated birth, foster, step or adoptive – wife, partner, sister,
daughter, aunty, friend or someone special in the local community. Nominating is easy and there are great
prizes up for grabs.
Nominations for Barnardos Mother of the Year 2015 are now open.
To nominate go to: www.MotherOfTheYear.com.au
For more information visit: www.barnardos.com.au
For further information, please contact:
Leonie Conley – Beebox Mgmt – Email: leonie@beeboxmgmt.com / Tel: 0416 927 584
or
Rebecca Annetts – Beebox Mgmt – Email: Rebecca@beeboxmgmt.com / Tel: 0416 729 082
Notes for editors
About Barnardos Mother of the Year
Now in its 19th year, Barnardos Mother of the Year is the largest and most recognised national awards celebrating
mothering. The awards publicly acknowledge the enormous contribution that mothers make in shaping Australia's future
through their role in nurturing children and helping them to realise their full potential. Visit MotherOfTheYear.com.au
for more information.
Barnardos Mother of the Year is proud to be associated with, and grateful for the support of Awards partners: Major
Sponsor - ALDI; Supporting Sponsor -Doltone House; Media Partners - Woman’s Day and Smooth FM; Prize Partners Captain Cook Cruises, Breville, EasyFlowers, Harlequin School Bags, Magdelena Photography and Simone Pérèle and
Government Partners - ACT, NSW, NT, QLD and VIC.
About Barnardos Australia
Barnardos Australia is one of the leading child protection charities. A non-government, non-denominational charity, we
have been at the forefront of child protection for over 130 years. We believe all children deserve to be safe and protected.
We work with families and communities facing issues such as violence, poverty, mental illness and homelessness to keep
children safe at home. Barnardos extensive range of services include, family and domestic violence support, mental health
support, emergency accommodation, parent education, counselling, foster care and adoption. Our evidence-based
research and dedicated caseworkers and carers ensure Barnardos is well equipped to fully support, care for and nurture
children in need. Donations play a critical role in the operation of these vital programs. Visit www.barnardos.com.au and
donate now to help a child in need.
www.barnardos.com.au.
About the winner
GLORIA NASCIMENTO, DAPTO, NSW
When 49 year old Gloria Nascimento’s daughter, Cass was 16 years old she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. When
the doctors gave Cass a 4% chance of survival, Gloria did everything she could to try to save her daughter, including taking
her to America to try a new treatment. Gloria left her job in order to provide better support for her daughter. The family
lived in Wollongong and it took Gloria two hours to drive one way to the hospital, which she did regularly for three years
in order to attend every doctors appointment and be there when Cass was going through treatment. On the occasions
that Cass would stay overnight in hospital, Gloria refused to let her daughter be alone and would often sleep on the floor
next to her bed. When Cass had already had three brain operations, Gloria would continue to instill her with the gift of
positivity to help her to overcome her fears. This would, in turn, rub off on, not only Cass, but also all of her friends. Facing
the unknown of cancer and its unpredictability Gloria would often reassure her daughter that everything would be alright
and that they would get through this disease together.
During the time that Gloria spent at the hospital with Cass, she saw the need to help other young adults going through
cancer and their treatments. She began to donate a large portion of her time, when Cass was in between treatments, to
help other young adults in Hospital and this included her nominator, young Jason Carrasco who was diagnosed with
testicular cancer at the age of 18. Jason was a complete stranger to Gloria, however, she thought she could help so
approached he and his family. She passed on to Jason and his family, her experience of how to cope with dealing with this
life threatening disease and with the emotions that cancer brings.
Gloria provided Jason and his family with much needed support and acted as a caring mother figure to him during his
treatment. She would often cook healthy meals for Jason to eat in the hospital, and in order to brighten up his day, when
he wasn’t on Chemotherapy; she would surprise him with cupcakes to cheer him up. Most of all Gloria actions to her
daughter, Jason and the other young people she helped served as an inspiration to them. Jason is just one of the young
adults that Gloria has helped and continues to help throughout their cancer treatment.
Tragically for Gloria, her husband Joe, and their other daughter, Andrea, Cassie passed away on 11th November last year.
Gloria still visits her grave every day and, although still struggling to cope with the loss of Cass, she has been spending
time with her grandchild, Andrea’s little boy, Joe. When asked what advice Gloria would give other mothers, she simply
said, ‘”Just love your kids. They are so special”.