NEWS
The latest news is at the top below. Click HERE to return to the front page. Keep checking back to this page for the latest!
June 9, 2015. Well, the final total is in now! We've had another donation, and when everything is balanced up our new total is $1,632. A wonderful effort! Thanks again to everyone who so generously supported this event!
June 3, 2015. The final total is in! In summary it goes like this: We had a total of 43 official entries. At $10 per entry that made $430. Then with donations (including extra amounts donated with entries, and other separate donations) and sales of raffle tickets, we received an extra $1,177, making a grand total of $1,607. The only overhead to come out of that (my wife and I covered the cost of food and tea / coffee) was the hire of the hall, which cost $45. That left a final total of $1,562, which was donated to the Steven Walter Foundation. What an amazing result!
As I said below, I wouldn't have ever dreamed of raising that much, especially with this being the first time we've held the event. So thank you to all who entered the Run, and all who donated extra money, including buying raffle tickets.There are people to thank, of course. Firstly, a big "Thank you!" to all the businesses and individuals who donated prizes. (Read the list on the Prizes page). Thanks to Dapto Ribbonwood Centre for providing us with the hall at the reduced rate of $15 per hour (rather than the normal hire-rate of $27 per hour). I already thanked everyone who entered, but I would like to especially thank a couple of groups who gave the event great support, and they are the South Coast Vintage Car Club, and the Slow And Easy Riders motorcycle group. Yes, I'm a member of both groups, but their support helped in a huge way to make it the success that it was. Other people to thank include my wife, Jan, who supported it all the way, and spent a couple of days cooking cakes and slices etc prior to the event. A thanks also to our daughters, Linda Bell and Amie Abbott for their support and help on the day. Also Julie Clarke, who helped serve the tea and coffee. Are we doing it again next year? Yes indeed! After that tremendous result, we have to!May 30, 2015. What happened to the sunshine? It was hidden behind cloud that, just a couple of times, even threatened to drop a little water, but the rain stayed away. The people didn't though! We had a great turn-out of people who showed incredible generosity to raise a grand total of over $1500! I wouldn't have even dreamed of raising that much! Money is actually still coming in, so I won't have an exact total for a couple of days. The final amount will be announced here when I have it.
I think people were really moved by the background to the event – the story of Joshua, my 8-year old grandson, who was sadly taken from us by this most horrible disease. And they responded accordingly. Our whole family were amazed and deeply touched by this fantastic support!There were two groups who deserve a special mention: the South Coast Vintage Car Club and the Slow And Easy Riders. Both groups were hugely supportive from the moment I first told them about the event. They weren’t the only ones on the run of course, but in terms of numbers they were the main groups to support us. I would also like to mention those who travelled some distance to be there. Included in those were a friend from Newcastle, and another from Wangi Wangi, in the Lake Macquarie region. They were both faced with a round-trip of over 500km. A great effort! (One stayed overnight, the other rode back home after the event). There will be a special "Event Results" page where I will tell the story of the event in greater detail and also put up some photos. Although if you follow us on Facebook there are photos there now, and more of them than will make it onto this web-site. My heartfelt thanks to all who took part and showed such wonderful generosity! It truly was a magnificent result!May 27, 2015 The weather forecast says it is going to be sunshine all day, so it looks like being a great day for a drive / ride! And people have rides planned. As I mentioned on May 5, we have groups organising rides (mostly following one of the suggested routes, or a variation of) to enjoy on the day. At least three people I know of are travelling over 200km just to get here and support the event! (Motorcyclists, actually). Very impressive!
Anyway, it looks like being a great day, so come along, enjoy the ride / drive, and contribute to research that, hopefully, one day will prevent children dying from cancer. And remember there willbe free tea / coffee and munchies, and you might even win a prize! May 22, 2015. Well, just over a week to go! We have had more groups organising individual runs, so things are happening! Remember you can enter / register at the door on the day, although it is preferable to make your entry-donation on-line direct to Steven Walter Foundation, as detailed on the How To Enter Page here. Remember we will be selling raffle tickets on the day too, so as an old TV ad bloke used to say, "Bring your money with you!"
May 5, 2015. Groups have been taking advantage of the Suggested Routes. For classic cars it's njecessary to have a set route, due to the restrictions of "club rego", and The South Coast Vintage Car Club has decided to do the Kiama and back through Jamberoo route.
On the motorcycling side of things, Slow And Easy Riders are doing the run to Stanwell Tops, with a stop at Towradgi Hotel on the way back for lunch. That sounds like a good one too! April 25, 2015. The list of prizes is now complete and published here on the web-site. Go to the front page and click the "Prizes" Tab. (Or just click the link I highlighted).
April 22, 2015. I have now put up the suggested routes. There are quite a variety to choose from - including short runs and long runs, country runs, seaside runs. Check them out! Just click the "Suggested Routes" button on the front page.
April 5, 2015. I have now completed the "How To Enter" page, with maps and instructions of where the hall is and how to get to it.
April 3, 2015. To all those people who have been trying to donate, but getting stuck, my apologies. It's a somewhat comlicated and confusing process, and I made it more complicated by missing a step in the instructions I wrote out! That error has now been rectified and the How To Enter page now has the correct procedure. My apologies once again. I don't know why they made it so confusing, but I just made it worse by leavging a step out! Sorry. All good now though.
March 30, 2015. I have the details on how you can enter on the "How To Enter" page. It's ready now! And entries have already begun. So enter now!
March 29, 2015. Well, our web-site is up and running! It's a bit thin on detail yet - aprt from the info on the front page - but it'll get there. I wanted to get it up and online as soon as I could, so it's here: it's up and running. More details will be added as soon as we have them sorted out.
There is also a Facebook page, so if you're on Facebook, you can check it out there. Just go to Facebook and search for "The Joshua Bell Cure Cancer Run." 