Ten Years In

Happy Alopecia Areata Awareness Week! AAAF is so excited to be celebrating our tenth Awareness Week with this amazing community.

This year has brought a lot of reflection and introspection. For AAAF, celebrating our tenth birthday has been very different to how we envisioned. We’ve changed plans, boosted our remote and online support, and had to pause many of our usual events and fundraising activities. Many states have been lucky enough to be able to celebrate Alopecia Areata Awareness Week in person, while others have joined remotely.

These changes, coupled with our tenth birthday, have really brought home how much has changed for AAAF and for our amazing community since we started.

When AAAF first began, the most common question we were asked was “Am I the only person with this condition?”. We consider it one of the greatest signs of success that we no longer hear this.

AAAF’s Christmas in July Giveaway

The Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation is celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2020. To celebrate, we have 10 fantastic give away packs for 10 lucky winners.

To enter the giveaway, submit a creative work about alopecia and the theme “ten”.

You could write a letter to yourself 10 years ago, create an artwork with ten colours, a poem with ten lines, ten photographs from your journey with alopecia, write up the ten best things about alopecia or the ten things you wish you’d known. The only limit is your imagination.

How AAAF Began – 10 Years On

By Chel, AAAF Founder and President

I am often asked why I wanted to create AAAF ten years ago.

It wasn’t that I wanted to create AAAF; it was more that I saw a need to have a unified body that supported everyone who had some form of Alopecia Areata.  The support group that I had been a member of didn’t align with my ideals of how to get Alopecia Areata known in the wider community. I had the hope that one day there would be unconditional acceptance on someone’s appearance.

My son’s appearance changed dramatically by the time he was two.  Try and think back twenty-one years ago, the comb-over for males was the fashion. So having a toddler with patchy hair did bring on the stares and, yes, the questions.

AAAdventure Camp 2018

Alopecia Awareness Week 2018 was huge! We had so many great projects launch, announcements of upcoming programs and great events all over Australia. But the 2018 AAAdventure Camp was definitely one of the highlights. Check out this great video sharing some of the wonderful things we got up to!

AAAF in 2018

I have a confession to make. I’m absolutely nuts about New Year’s Resolutions.

I know, I know – January 1^st is just a date, there’s no reason to limit introspection to one tiny portion of the year, and yes, I’ve heard that making resolutions might even be bad for keeping them.

I can’t help it. I really like them.

For me, January really does feel like the designated check in. A chance to look back at what’s been achieved and be excited for what’s ahead. To decide what to bring into the new year and what to leave in the past. Truth is, I’m a big of a day dreamer. If I didn’t give myself a designated time to decided what I want to do and plan how we’re going to do it, I’d end up another year down with nothing to show for it.

A year ago today, we posted AAAF’s New Year Resolutions for 2017. We celebrated the amazing things we did in 2016 – like the Bald Canvas Initiative and our Remove GST on Wigs campaign – and we made plans for what was to come.

Looking back on 2017, I feel very proud of our wonderful team, and our outstanding community, because we achieved everything we set out to do. And so, so much more.

#Healthy Alopecia Blog Competition

As announced in our recent Alopecia Awareness Week, Love Alopeciais running a competition for 12 months in support of our theme for 2018, #HealthyAlopecia, starting December 2017.

We’re looking for your story on any aspect of health and wellness, ranging from mental health, physical activity, social engagement, what wellness means for you, or anything in between. In exchange for your story, you go into the draw to win up to $2000 towards a healthier you!

Introducing #HealthyAlopecia

In Alopecia Awareness Week 2016, we began our #EmbraceAlopecia campaign and theme for the year. We’re very proud of the response we’ve had to the campaign to Embrace Alopecia, especially the individuals in our community who came forward to share their stories and personal journeys, many of which can be found here on Love, Alopecia.

12 months later and we want to continue to build on the outstanding success of #EmbraceAlopecia and maintain our dedication to championing awareness and understanding of alopecia, promoting acceptance of appearance diversity and providing support to help individuals find self-confidence and happiness on their journey with this condition. To help us on this path, our theme for 2018 will be Healthy Alopecia.

The Healthy Alopecia theme will structure much of the programs, events and communications executed by AAAF and is to be all inclusive audience program. This campaign will focus on a broad range of health and wellbeing areas, including positive mindsets and mental health, physical excise, empowerment, diet and nutrition, healthy social connectedness and skills to support these areas.

We’re inviting you to take part in Healthy Alopecia too. #HealthyAlopecia

AAAF Goes to NAAFCon2017

With AAAF South Australian Branch Manager Liz Bear.

1. What’s your connection to Alopecia/AAAF?

I was first diagnosed with AA 34 years ago.  My eldest daughter also has AA as did my paternal grandfather.

2. Tell us about the NAAF Conference

The NAAF Conference is held annually at various cities in the United States by the the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. People with AA and their families attend from all over the United States and some from Overseas.  This year it will be held in Miami, Florida.  During the 4 day conference, while different session are on during the day for attendees, NAAF organises a children’s camp so children with AA can meet others who are like them.  There can be around 500 attendees.

Why GST on Wigs Matters To You

If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that AAAF’s social media accounts have been busy with information about GST and wigs, petitions and demonstration rallies. It’s easy to think that taxation on wigs is a tiny issue, only affecting a tiny portion of people, and only having a very small impact on those people. If you don’t wear wigs, you might find yourself thinking why on earth does this matter, and why on earth would it matter to you.

For people with alopecia, the question of Goods and Services Tax on wigs can be, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

AAAF’s New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year! We hope you all had enjoyable and safe holiday season and are feeling refreshed and excited for the year ahead.

Before we took our holiday break, we were talking here on Love, Alopecia about all the things AAAF has achieved over the last 12 months. This week it’s all about where we want to go next. That’s right, it’s time for AAAF’s New Year Resolutions. These goals are our commitment to our community that we will never stop striving to do better, be better and help others to have a positive journey with Alopecia Areata. So what’s in store for 2017?