Mollie Riches

Mollie Riches moved to Melbourne after the death of her husband Les. In Melbourne she was involved in volunteering and organising with the 1956 Olympics, and 1958 Empire Games, as well as fundraising for many community causes.

In 1965 she became a patient of Dr Les Koadlow who offered her a challenge: you’ve done so much fundraising for other causes, why don’t you do something for people with arthritis? In the late 1960s Dr Koadlow, his secretary Alice Petty and Mollie Riches established the Rheumatism and Arthritis Association of Victoria, which eventually became MSK Australia.

An advocate for peer support groups, she established the Mollie Riches Trophy in 1972.