Royal Children’s Hospital receives donation from Rotary Club of Wandin

By Callum Ludwig

On Wednesday 7 June, The Rotary Club of Wandin proudly handed over a cheque of $18,000 they fundraised to the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The money was raised through the series of Custom Car and Bike shows run by the Rotary over the course of every year.

Chair of the Rotary committee for the Custom Car and Bike Shows Pat Cullen said their effort was fantastic given they had such a tough year with the weather cancelling some shows.

“We got wiped out with the weather in October, we got wiped out with the weather in November and finally ran a very successful one in December. In January, were the only place it wasn’t raining so not many people came but February and March ran and were successful shows,” he said.

“We only had three in the end really, and in future, we are going to aim for four instead of six shows. We’re very happy with the $18,000 that the club has put together.”

The Rotary Club of Wandin’s Custom Car and Bike Shows are hosted on Wednesday evenings throughout each year at the Wandin East Recreation Reserve with the end goal of making a donation to the Royal Children’s Hospital from the money received from their 37 sponsors, with the proceeds raised at the shows going towards their local projects.

Mr Cullen said plans for the next series of shows have already started this week.

“So far, all the sponsors we’ve approached, they’re back on board with us and giving us varying amounts of money which goes directly to the Royal Children’s Hospital,” he said.

“We run a bar at the car show and the money that that makes gets distributed right through the community locally. For example, a house was burnt down recently and we gave those people quite a large sum of money to get them by.”

The car shows also have food stalls, live music and a special appearance from Santa Claus in December and have been supported by local groups such as the Seville and Wandin CFAs, the Wandin Cricket Club and the Upper Yarra Rotary.