REGISTRATIONS:
WOW!! We have over 60 vehicles registered already (as at mid December 2016). This is a massive increase over our 2016 numbers. Obviously the 2016 crew had such a great time that they have told all their mates. We can squeeze a few more cars in, but don’t delay, as you may have to go on a waiting list.
ACCOMMODATION:
With the increased number of registrations comes the need for more beds. Most overnight stops have plenty of beds, with the exception of Bermagui. We have secured over 100 beds either in the Bermagui Beach Hotel or within walking distance of the hotel. We have more beds a little further afield, but some will require you to drive. Make sure you know where your beds are before you decide how thirsty you are when you arrive at the pub. Our overnight stops are NOWRA (Thursday Night); BERMAGUI (Friday Night); COOMA (Saturday Night); CANBERRA (Sunday Night).
SAFETY RULES:
We will circulate the Safety Rules in January 2017. If you’ve been on one of our events before you will already know the ropes. If you have a 2WD that has participated in events for other charities, you’ll be fine. If you are a newbie in a 4WD the two most important items are a UHF radio and a Flashing Amber Light for the roof.
TV CREW:
We are currently talking to one of the lifestyle adventure TV shows, with a view to them coming on the event, and promoting Beyond Blue to their audience. We’ll let you know as this develops further. You might need to pack your lippy and mascara just in case you get a cameo appearance.
As well as the professional TV crew we will have our keen amateur crew as well. We have added a drone to the kit bag in order to get some more artistic shots this year. We also plan to do a few short interviews with participants asking them about the event and their personal stories around anxiety, depression and suicide.
MOBILE PHONE APP:
We have developed a mobile phone app (for both iPhones and Androids). We will provide the download link in a later newsletter. Be sure to download the app prior to leaving home, as it will be our primary source of communication during the event. Here’s a screen shot of what it will look like.
The app will keep you updated with start times and locations each day. It will let you know where you are staying each night. It will tell you where lunch and dinner is if we have prearranged those particular meals. It will tell you if there are any changes to the road book each day.
SPONSORSHIP:
You may have seen our Facebook post about LAND ROVER AUSTRALIA coming on board as our Vehicle Sponsor. They have agreed to provide a Land Rover DISCOVERY SPORT as the Official Vehicle for the event. You’re likely to see it pop up everywhere, particularly as we know where all the shortcuts are after doing the two surveys before the event.
We still have some sponsorship opportunities available (including a Naming Rights package). If this is something that you can see value in you can either drop us an email or give us a ring. Our contact details are at the bottom of the page.
FUNDRAISING SUGGESTIONS:
The minimum donation required this year is $1,500. Beyond Blue prefer that all fundraising goes through their fundraising portal, which is administered by Everyday Hero. Here’s the link
http://www.beyondbluefundraising.org.au/event/beyondbitumentour2017
Once you have clicked on the link you will see 3 big blue buttons, click on the “START FUNDRAISING” button to create your own page. This way you (and I) can see how you are going in the fundraising stakes. This will also generate a link to your personal page that you can send to your friends and colleagues so they can donate directly to your page too.
On this year’s event the two highest fundraising teams both raised around $9,000 each. They simply set up their page through Everyday Hero and sent a link to all their contacts. They received lots of donations, but none bigger than $500. So the old story of a lot of people doing a little bit rings true here. All donations through the Everyday Hero page receive official recognition in the form of an online Tax Deductible Receipt.
Many of our participants choose to seek out corporate sponsors and agree to carry signwriting on their vehicles to publicise the sponsor’s brand. This is also an effective way to reach your fundraising target and it adds a lot of colour and interest to the event. It also shows your sponsors in a good light as it demonstrates their support for Beyond Blue.
Others simply choose to donate directly from their own pocket, and this works too.
If you are considering doing any specific fundraising activity (such as running a raffle, or a sausage sizzle at Bunnings) it’s best to talk to us first to make sure it complies with the “Authority To Fundraise” issued by Beyond Blue.
FACEBOOK:
In case you are not already following us on Facebook, here is the link to our page. Tell everyone back home to watch our progress over the four days we are away, by liking the page.
https://www.facebook.com/carcharityevents/
AUCTION ITEMS:
On the Sunday Night in Canberra we will be having our Awards and Auction Night at Salotto Bar & Restaurant in the vibrant Kingston food precinct. The awards will include “Highest Fundraiser” and “Best Presented Vehicle”
The Auction is an important part of the overall contribution to Beyond Blue and relies on the generous provision of auction prizes by participants and friends of the event. “Lifestyle” and “Experience” auction items (weekends away, holiday house for a week, a day on the harbour, etc.) tend to get the best results at our auctions. If you think that you might be able to provide an auction item we would love to hear from you.
