A previous i98FM Illawarra Convoy. Photo: i98FM Illawarra Convoy.
Since 2005, the i98FM Illawarra Convoy has been more than trucks, motorbikes and fundraising – it’s been a tapestry of human resilience and compassion.
As it rolls down Mount Ousley this Sunday (16 November), flanked by thousands waving from the sides of roads, it will again help change lives of Illawarra families facing cancer challenges.
Founder and event ambassador Marty Haynes has come to know those families and their stories well.
Take the 29-year-old breast cancer survivor in the lead pack of trucks with her partner last year, not knowing she would receive support from Convoy herself 12 months later.
“She was there helping another family going through it and this year she’s actually one of the recipients of funding,” Marty said.
There are the volunteers selling T-shirts in the Convoy shop, some having lost partners, while others are in the midst of children undergoing treatment – but still they want to give back.
Marty said this year they mourned the passing of Ann Tanks, a pivotal volunteer and “backbone” of the early years, having then run Camp Quality.
“When myself and Erica Hodge, who I did i98FM breakfast with, approached Ann and said, ‘We’ve got an idea’, she thought we were mad,” Marty said.
“But she came along for the ride. Sadly, we lost her in the middle of the year.
“We’ll pay a little tribute to her on the day. Her legacy will live on within the community.”
But for Marty, there was one particular story that started it all.
In 1997, while working at a Canberra radio station, he met four-year-old cancer crusader Ryan Skenes and ACT Eden Monaro Cancer Support Group founder Yvonne Cuschieri, who raised money to help families.
They became the inspiration for the entire movement.
“He had a love of trucks and bikes,” he said.
“I met them, and I thought, instead of you standing out the front of a shopping centre selling raffle tickets, what’s an easier way of doing it?”
He said a truck convoy wasn’t a new concept, but one he could see would work.
“I thought, why can’t we get a group of trucks, a group of bikes, go to a family fun day at the local showgrounds at Queanbeyan, and then we could raise a bit of money.
“And that’s what we did.
“When I moved here in 2002 I thought, why can’t we do it here?”
Sadly, Ryan lost his battle with cancer at age seven.
“His oncologist, Dr Tim McDonald, said he wouldn’t probably get past the age of seven,” he said.
“He turned seven, and he passed away a week later.
“He won that battle, but sadly he didn’t win the battle of having cancer.
“His legacy lives on. In fact, his family come to Convoy here in the Illawarra each and every year.”
He said when he brought the idea to the Illawarra in 2005, the main goal was to raise $20,000 for Camp Quality. They raised $52,000.
“We thought, ‘Oh boy, we’ve got something happening here,’” he said.
Marty said at the end of 2015, they started the Illawarra Community Foundation to provide critical financial support to all family members.
“We thought, why can’t we help a mum who’s got breast cancer, and her kids need help too,” he said.
Since forming the foundation, Convoy has helped more than 1000 families, averaging 15 to 20 families per month, and last year alone raised more than $2.5 million.
However, he said as the years had progressed, the need had grown.
“With the fundraising, we’ve just got to be happy with what we raise,” he said.
“We understand it’s very tight out there with the cost of living, but we’re still blown away by the generosity of the region we cover.
“We’re very adamant that the money we raise stays in our own backyard.
“If you do that, then if you go to school and you see someone who we’re helping, you want to help as well.”
Each year it attracts between 750 and 900 trucks and up to 1500 motorbikes, which make their way from Appin, via Warrawong and Stockland Shellharbour to the Family Fun Day at Shellharbour Airport.
Best vantage points include any overpass on the F6 to Masters Rd; top of Mt Ousley; Bulli Tops; Masters Road, Coniston; King St, Warrawong; Windang Rd, Windang; Lake Illawarra Hotel, Windang; corner of Shellharbour Road and Lake Entrance Road, Warilla; Shellharbour Road, Shellharbour; Lake Entrance Road and New Lake Entrance Road, Shellharbour; Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail, between Bunnings and Wollybutt Road; Princes Highway in front of Albion Oval, Open Hearth Hotel, Warrawong; Lake Illawarra Hotel, Windang; and Warilla Hotel, Warilla.
The Family Fun Day will include performances by Aussie rockers The Screaming Jets, and Sydney-based Large Mirage who are preparing to open for AC/DC, along with Little Big Rigs Sydney, Cars for Convoy display, kids rides and more.
Organisers suggest parking at the Park ‘n’ Ride area at the corner of Tongarra and Croome roads and taking the free shuttle bus to the fun day, or catching a train to Albion Park Rail train station and walking across to the event. Convoy buses will also run from Stockland and Oak Flats train station. Buses run between 8 am and 4 pm.
i98FM Illawarra Convoy is on Sunday (16 November), from West Cliff Colliery on Appin Road, to the free Family Fun Day at Shellharbour Airport. Bikes will depart from 8 am, and trucks from 8:15 am.
