July 31 2015
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang events raise $6,000 for Upper Clutha Children’s Medical Trust

Children in the Upper Clutha will benefit from additional medical services and support thanks to the generosity of locals and visitors who helped raise $6,000 during Warbirds & Wheels’ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang month.

Warbirds & Wheels managing director, Robert Duncan, this week presented the Upper Clutha Children’s Medical Trust with a cheque for $4,000.

The sale of a one-of-a-kind painting of the famous car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang signed by world-famous Kiwi film director Sir Peter Jackson and painted by Julian Ford fetched $2,000 on TradeMe.

The successful bidder was a “huge Chitty fan” from Christchurch and the painting now boasts pride of place, framed in the family home.

A further $2,000 was donated by Warbirds & Wheels to the Trust and $2,000 raised from an auction held during the Chitty-themed events, all combining to a grand total of $6,000.

Upper Clutha Children’s Medical Trust chair Noeline Harridge said receiving the donation was a “wonderful end to a great event”.

“The Trust recently approved its 122nd application to assist local families with much needed medical services and support. It is through donations and assistance such as this, that we are able to continue the work we do,” said Mrs Harridge.

“More recently for the Trust, some applications for financially struggling families have been for developmental and psychological issues which may have led on to the need for medical treatment in the future.”

“We continue to support medical treatment necessary to be undertaken outside of the Upper Clutha Area, including transport and accommodation. As always each application has to be supported by the family’s suitably qualified health professional,” she said.

“Being a part of the whole Chitty Chitty Bang Bang event with the team at Warbirds & Wheels was very positive and it was lovely to see so much support for the events held throughout April,” said Mrs Harridge.

Mr Duncan said it was a “huge honour” to present the Trust with the donation to “assist the Trust in all the great work they do in the region”.

“We all enjoyed hosting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and it was just fantastic seeing everyone –young and old- getting into the spirit of the events we held. The fact we can now give something back to the Trust is an added bonus.”

“This would simply not have been possible without the help of Sir Peter Jackson, who loaned GEN11 (aka Chitty) to us for the month. That, coupled with the support and generosity of our community and visitors to Warbirds & Wheels, means the Trust can continue to help local families in need,” said Mr Duncan.

“We look forward to working with the Trust again in the future,” he added.

ENDS

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