When the Bandage Bear Benefit Night started in 1999, no-one could have envisaged how successful it would become – or how much money it would raise for sick children and children with disabilities.

But Bandage Bear quickly captured the imagination of the Illawarra business community, which from the start demonstrated the region's renowned community spirit and generosity by supporting the event with donations of magnificent prizes for raffles and by attending the fund-raising dinner and spending up big on the night.

Typically raffle prizes have included cars, holidays and major household items such as televisions and air-conditioners. So it is little wonder that Event Organiser Leigh Stewart has been able to persuade people to part with large sums of money for such a good cause.

Many of Australia's finest musicians have supported the night over the years by providing the entertainment, while the audience is always liberally sprinkled with well-known actors, sports stars and other celebrities who are more than happy to come to Wollongong for the event.

Celebrity guests and performers over the years have included Jon Stevens, Max Walker, Tim Farriss from INXS, Angry Anderson, Dragon, Jon Stevens, Reg Gasnier, Maria Venuti, Lisa Forrest, John Raper, Wayne Gardner, Wally Lewis, Wayne Pearce, Justin Melvey, Choir Boys, Jenny Morris, Tim Harding, Lee Kernaghan, Jimmy Barnes, Ada Nicodemou, Jeff Fenech, Anne Tenney, Gretel Killeen, Kamahl and Doug Walters.

The proceeds of the Bandage Bear Benefit Night are divided equally between The Children's Hospital at Westmead (Cancer Research), Southern Children's Care and Kids Fund – an Illawarra-based charity managed by The Disability Trust which provides essential aids and equipment for families of children with severe disabilities.