THE Meerkat Mischief team is back for another year in the 1988 Nissan Patrol and will head off on this year’s Victorian Variety Bash.
In August Haydn Bailey will again take on the iconic motoring trek heading from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, avoiding the motorways.
This year his wife Cheryl, after much convincing, will join him on his last Variety Bash.
The event is Australia’s largest and longest-running charity drive.
It’s neither a race nor a rally, but a fun social event, or in the words of the originator Dick Smith, “a drive in the outback with a few mates”.
All in cars participating must be at least 30 years old and have a theme.
Throughout the Variety Bash, participants visit local towns, stopping into schools and organisations to visit the kids.
The event is all about having fun in support of Aussie kids.
Last Friday the Meerkat Mischief team held a fundraising event at the Racecourse Bowling Club that attracted 125 people.
The trivia, auction and raffle evening raised $6000.
All prizes for the auction and raffle were donated by local businesses.
“One of the great things about the bash is the presentations we make to schools along the journey,” Mr Bailey said.
“Last year Variety raised $1.7 million and that benefited more than 8500 children.
“In this last week three buses have been presented to special schools throughout Victoria.
“Swan Hill Specialist School is also in line for a bus. They desperately need one because their main bus hit a kangaroo recently and is now off the road.
“For all the fundraising you do, it’s good to see the kids’ faces line up when the presentations are made.
“You meet a lot of great people along the way with around 80 cars, which is down from the 107 we had last year.
Mrs Bailey said the fundraising team had a third member, neighbour Sonia Pitts.
“She has done a magnificent job sourcing our prizes,” Mrs Bailey said.
“We also had other neighbours, family and friends help on the night.”
