THEY might call themselves the Hinchy Halfwits but this group of motivated trekkers are bright sparks when it comes to fundraising.
The team of four motivated women are among the top fundraising teams for this weekend’s Audi Arrow Experience.
The event is a fundraising initiative of the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation, raising funds for the Emergency Department of Cairns Hospital. Participants choose to walk two or four of the arrows of Mt Whitfield and can fundraise in traditional ways or by selling raffle tickets in an Audi A1.
The Foundation hopes to raise enough money to buy some specialised xray equipment for the department and so far is up to $45,825.
Yvonne Spenceley, Catherine Dennis, Stephanie De Zilva and Kerry Vickers have been taking on a number of exercising fundraising adventures in the past few years.
Comprised of nurses, a chef and a dietitian, none of the group have yet undertaken all four Arrows in one day.
“We’re really excited about it actually. We trekked on Hinchinbrook Island in 2017 and now we’re excited to take part in this as well,” Ms Vickers said. “We all like to keep fit and have fun in the great outdoors. We did the Cardiac Challenge a few years ago and really enjoyed that. Then we saw this opportunity and thought ‘why not?” she said.
“We call ourselves halfwits but we’ve survived salty water porridge, emergency chopper beach raids, crossed tidal rivers using tide times that make no sense, one team member endured an unexpected stabbing in the buttocks from a misplaced sharp knife, we’ve learned how to avoid mosquito attack while sitting on a drop toilet and we’ve discovered that one mighty strong Cath can carry litres of red wine and plenty of chocolate to keep team morale up,” she said.
“And we’re really excited that the funds raised are going to the Emergency Department of Cairns Hospital. We know that’s a really busy department so it’s important those staff and patients are supported.”
Foundation fundraising and event coordinator Gaby Thomasz said 52 teams and 188 individuals were registered. “They’ve paid a very modest registration fee and committed to fundraise a minimum of $100 each or $400 per team, and we have great prizes for top fundraising teams and individuals, provided by sponsors,” Ms Thomasz said.
Photo: Yvonne Spenceley, Catherine Dennis and Kerry Vickers from the Hinchy Halfwits are excited about this Sunday's event.
