The four wheeling community is very good at fundraising for communities and charities and the KidCare Foundation Woodhill day, as assisted by the Manukau 4WD Club was no exception.

KidCare is a charitable trust that provides counselling and support to children affected by abuse, neglect or those who are otherwise emotionally disadvantaged. The trust has links with Barnardos to provide counselling and supervised contact for at risk children.

The trust recently linked up with Manukau 4WD Club for a fundraising trip into Woodhill Forest north of Auckland and a most enjoyable day it was too.  It started out as a rather wet morning and the rain did make some of the clay tracks rather interesting for the more standard vehicles but there were plenty available to assist with recovery when needed.

And one of the vehicles that required assistance more often than most was the V8 Series III Land Rover of organiser and KidCare marketing manager, Tony Johnson.  To be fair the standard Land Rover was on road tyres having been originally set up for the Variety Bash and not for off-road use.

The Land Rover was a former Red Cross vehicle and now its main purpose is to raise funds for charity.

Approximately 45 vehicles participated; divided into three groups and led through the various forest tracks. Carter Holt Harvey Forests waived their usual access fees to allow all the proceeds to go to KidCare.

That generosity, together with product prizes and auctions on the day, raised over $2,000 from the participating 4WD community. Other supporters of the event were Auckland 4x4, Ford NZ, Trillian Trust, Land Rover NZ, South Pacific Tyres, Green Acres Car Valet, Theo Meyer Ltd, Opel Security and NZ4WD.

Tony Johnson was very enthusiastic with the response from the 4WD community and plans further days of four-wheeling activities, with the KidCare Foundation the benefactor.  If you or your Club wish to assist Tony Johnson and KidCare you can contact him via the NZ4WD office..: