Thank you to the Lake Wanaka community for all its support

Each year, Challenge Wanaka makes a donation to a local cause as part of its volunteer programme. It’s our way of saying thank you to the Lake Wanaka community for all its support.

This year, Challenge Wanaka is supporting the Upper Clutha Children’s Medial Trust.

The Upper Clutha Children’s Medical Trust supports local families who are finding it difficult to meet the costs of medical treatment for their children. The Upper Clutha’s distance from specialist care means the expense of appointments, travel and accommodation etc. can be very draining on family finances, particularly when visits to Dunedin and Christchurch have to be done on a regular basis.

“We’re so excited to have this opportunity,” said Trust chairperson, Bev Rudkin. “The Trust has been amazed at the diversity of applications it has received for help. Some assistance provided has been of a short-term nature, but a number of cases are in respect to chronic long-term medical problems. As the Trust’s resources grow, this will allow more generous grants to be made to deserving cases, some of which are chronic situations where families will need ongoing support for years to come. Securing enough funding to cope with the expected population growth in the Upper Clutha region is one of the major challenges we face.”

While knowing their volunteering is helping such a worthy cause, any member of the Locations Volunteer Crew who volunteers for more than six hours during Challenge Wanaka will go in the draw to win a four night trip to Sydney for two, thanks to the generosity of United Travel Wanaka and Emirates Airlines, including accommodation with breakfast at Wyndham Vacation Resort Sydney.

Below are some of the other organisations that have benefited from Challenge Wanaka: