More than $1500 has been donated to the Royal Flying Doctor Service by a group of caravanners.
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In 2005, the group of about 40 people travelled from Rose Hill Racecourse in Sydney to Cairns in Queensland. The trip was developed from a federal government grant designed to boost tourism throughout Australia.
Since 2005, every year the group of travellers has reunited and raised money for a charity of their choice.
This year the group connected in Dubbo and chose to fundraise for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Co-organiser Carol Evans said RFDS was chosen this year because, while no one hoped for it, there may come a time when the caravanners needed its services.
The bulk of the money was raised through two auctions. Ms Evans said those on the trip sold items from their caravan they no longer needed to the other travellers. There may have been a bit of inflation, Ms Evan said, with $10 bottles of wine often going for $40.
Throughout the time in Dubbo money was also raised through smaller means, such as fining members of the trip who weren’t wearing their name tags, Ms Evans said.
Kerrie Mauger, who also helped organised the trip, said the 38 people who visited Dubbo ranged in age, all the way up to a couple in their 80s.
The places they now travelled to had changed from the early catch ups, she said, with areas that had plenty to do, including a nice golf course, now top of the list.
As well as golf, while in town the tourists had also played lawn bowls, been to sites such as Taronga Western Plains Zoo and had gone shopping, Ms Mauger said.
Dubbo was a special stop this year as it was part of the initial caravan route, the organisers said.
Ms Evans said in two nights the group had raised more than half of what they did on their initial 30-day caravaning trip to Cairns.
The caravaning group handed their cheque to the RFDS on Sunday afternoon. It will help the organisation to fund local projects, the RFDS said.