From the Gold Coast to Yamba via dusty outback New South Wales, more than 100 participants and support staff in 40 vehicles roared out of the pit lanes on the Gold Coast on Saturday 16 June for the start of the Great Endeavour Rally’s Great Southern Safari. The eight day journey is raising dust and dollars for disability not-for-profit Endeavour Foundation, which supports more than 4000 people with a disability around Australia in employment, accommodation and Learning and Lifestyle services.
The first vehicle was flagged off at 8am on Saturday from Macintosh Island, Broadbeach. Rally coordinator Nathan Woolhouse said participants from all across Australia had been preparing their vehicles and fundraising for many months. “What these guys do is just extraordinary,” Mr Woolhouse said, “from cent sales and sausage sizzles to sponsorship deals with local businesses, they raise thousands of dollars for Endeavour Foundation and they get their local communities on board with them. You can feel the anticipation in the atmosphere here and we’ll be taking that with us through every town we visit, spending cash in local communities who cater for the rally and giving them a boost as well.”
The rally has overnight stops in Jennings, Burren Junction, Lightning Ridge, Collerreina Hall, Ballimore, Lake Keepit, and Taylors Arm before crossing the finish line in Yamba on Saturday 23 June. Brisbane’s Peter Brady from Car 616 “the Dirty Doctors” said he was looking forward to his 12th Great Endeavour Rally. “I’ve heard we’ll see a few cold starts out west over the next few days but that won’t deter us. It’s a great group of people getting behind a fantastic cause and there’s this real feeling that we’re all in it together – that’s what keeps me coming back year after year.”
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