Members of the Tungamah Social Club participated in their sixth annual River Run to raise funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) on the Australia Day long weekend.
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The River Run came about because of two gentlemen wanting to raise funds for RCH in a fun and unique way.
Over a quite beer, Greg Ford and Wayne Sutton came up with this fun and social way of raising money.
They chose the Saturday of the Australia Day long weekend six years ago and decided to give it a go and see what would happen.
It went exceptionally well and has grown bigger and better since.
This year on Saturday, January 26 a flotilla of boats and approximately 80 people took off from Ulupna Island and travelled to Tocumwal on their annual fundraiser.
It was a sight to behold with ‘Betsy’ the paddleboat, numerous barbie boats and many tinnies joining in this journey.
The bar crasher led the way announcing at each beach, what the River Run was all about and who it was for.
A band of excited and enthusiastic children from Numurkah, Katunga and Strathmerton jumped off at each beach along the way, to rattle the tins for RCH.
The three and a half hour journey concluded at Tocumwal. From there travellers on the boats were bussed to Kelly’s Pub for an afternoon of music and entertainment.
A big thankyou to those who participated in the River Run. An extra special thank-you to those who sponsored the River Run and donated towards the raffles, including Paul Basse and the Tungamah Hotel, Clydesdale Hotel Katunga, Telegraph and Shamrock Hotels in Numurkah, Kelly’s Pub Tocumwal, Tomato Pete, Tocumwal Angling Pub, Wayne and Loretta Sutton, John Cole, Paddleboat Betsy and Meegan from the Butler’s Pantry in Numurkah.
Finally a shout out to the children who ran the beaches without complaint. An amazing effort from these children who gave up their weekend to assist with the fundraiser. Although, due to the extreme heat numbers along the beaches were down on previous years and campers on Ulupna Island had to share the water with some friendly koalas, it did not deter the participants in the River Run.
President of the Tungamah Social Club Greg Ford said they were very happy with the amount raised, the support they received from Katunga, Numurkah and Strathmerton and the success of River Run and are all set to go again in 2020.