WesCarpade charity convoy cruises through Great Southern raising over $300,000 for kids battling cancer

Dozens of cars have made the journey from the eastern outskirts of the Great Southern to the coast of Bunbury for Camp Quality’s annual wesCarpade journey. Kicking off on October 13 in Newdegate, 27 decorated cars revved their engines to begin the eight-day “Wheat to Wharf” tour through the State’s south raising more than $300,000 for kids facing cancer. In a bid to make lives a little easier for young cancer patients, the cars dipped into regional towns including Esperance, Ravensthorpe, Albany and Walpole to engage with youngsters, promoting healthy messages in rural communities. Events and corporate partnerships manager Eleanor Mazza said the group aimed to reach as many community groups as possible during their voyage. “We try to give local community clubs the first opportunity to cater for us,” Ms Mazza said. “So we ask local Rotary clubs, football clubs and Country Women’s Association to see if they want to get involved. “That way we are giving back to the community. “In Albany, we had breakfast at the National Anzac Centre Pavillion, where the RSL catered for us, and gave us a speech about the significance of the site.” Ms Mazza said visiting small regional communities has been a focus for the group as it provides strong engagement with the towns. “We decided to start in Newdegate because we feel that towns like that really embrace the wesCarpade a lot,” she said. “Newdegate ended up organising a big community festival where the whole town came down there and enjoyed face painting, music and food trucks which was awesome.” The cars were creatively transformed into beloved movie and TV characters, providing endless entertainment for the younger crowd. “We had Bluey the dog, Shrek, Bob the Builder, Toy Story ones, Transformers and they were all really popular for the kids,” Ms Mazza said. As part of the tour, the group conducted cancer education programs using their puppet show. “We travelled with our puppets as well which we used to deliver a cancer education program,” Ms Mazza said. “So we pull up for a show with the kids where they get to see all the cars and hand out giveaways. “But then they also get the cancer presentation puppet shows afterwards, so we are still spreading the message about what Camp Quality does.”