Community
5 June, 2026
Fundraising rally surpasses $20k
WHAT started as a simple idea to support a friend has grown thanks to strong support at last Saturday’s Ride for Dazza, raising over $20,000 to support his family.
As Western District Newspapers reported last month, Darryl Eldred was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia – a cancer which affects the blood and bone marrow – and has been forced to close his one-man business as he faces treatment.
Nigel Finlayson and Mark Pascoe then set out to fundraise to help support the family with daily living expenses while Mr Eldred received treatment, which included a raffle held over four and a half weeks and the rally held on Saturday, May 30.
Mr Finlayson said Mr Pascoe and himself were blown away with the strong support, raising $20,573.10 within the four and a half weeks.
“We weren’t expecting it at all,” he said.
“We had it in the back of our minds that it’d be good if we managed to sell 300 raffle tickets and raised around $5000 or $6000.
“For it to go 400 per cent that was something we didn’t think would happen – not in the short time frame we had organised it in.
“We had good support on the day, and the weather helped us out a fair bit as well with all the cars and bikes we got down here.
“It was chockers down at the estate – there were around 70-74 bikes and close to 30 cars in total.”
The rally saw the cars and bikes travel across the district, including making stops in Lismore, Mortlake and further afield.
Smaller raffles were held at each location, contributing to the impressive tally.
Mr Finlayson said the participants all managed to avoid the afternoon rainfall, returning to Camperdown for a well-earned dinner.
“It worked out really well and we had good support at the stops throughout the day – they all added some donations for raffles as well,” he said.
“Five of the blokes shaved their heads, and we put that through to an auction and we raised about $1200 through that.
“People’s generosity just kept up all day, and throughout the last four and a half weeks we’ve had the raffle running.
“A lot of awesome people and businesses donated, so we’re very grateful.
“It was a bloody unreal amount of support.”
Mr Finlayson said he was surprised with the amount of support, particularly with the current economic climate, as some attendees had travelled from as far as Geelong and Mount Gambier.
“We’re still a bit speechless with it all,” he said.
“Everyone had been through some sort of cancer before and that just hit home with everyone – they were more than happy to come out and support it.
“Everyone was willing to do something and give back for a good cause.
“No-one’s immune from it – people could have had family or friends go through it.
“We can’t thank everyone enough for the support they gave us and the support they showed on the day as well.”
Mr Finlayson extended his gratitude to everyone who contributed, whether it was a donation for the raffles or a cash donation for the cause.
“Thank you to all our sponsors,” he said.
“We’d go though and name them all, but we have an A4 sheet of paper just full of people and businesses who donated.
“We’d like to thank all the businesses who got behind us selling raffle tickets as well.”
Read More: Camperdown