Dandenong Ranges residents love a good charity walk or run and now Trailwalker – one of Australia’s largest fundraising walks – is coming to town.
On 1 August, Oxfam Trailwalker announced that for its March 2019 event, the 100km Melbourne trail had changed and would start in the heart of the Dandenong Ranges.
The new trail will start at Emerald Lake and make its way over the Dandenong Ranges and through some of Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs including Mount Evelyn, Olinda and Lilydale.
From there, it will travel down the line all the way to Fairfield.
The trail change is the first in almost a decade, with the previous trail starting from Wheelers Hill and ending in Wesburn.
“After almost 10 years on the same trail between Wheelers Hill and Wesburn, Oxfam Trailwalker listened to feedback from some of our most dedicated Trailwalkers and decided it was time to improve and update the trail,” Oxfam Trailwalker spokesperson Anna Wemyss said.
“We want to give Melbourne something fresh.
“The 2019 trail presents an exciting new challenge for our passionate returnees as well as for those considering taking up this fantastic team fundraising challenge – and the opportunity to help Oxfam’s work tackling poverty in communities around the world – for the first time.”
Ms Wemyss said the new trail would give participants fantastic views of the city as they climbed over Mount Dandenong.
She added that the new trail could also have beneficial tourism impacts on the towns it passed through.
“Trailwalker attracts a lot of people from far and wide, with participants, staff, volunteers and support crews often spending money in nearby towns on food and accommodation,” she said.
“Oxfam Trailwalker economic analysis conducted on past events in Australia suggests just one team can bring in about $1200 in local economic benefits, through parks visits and buying goods.”
Hundreds of teams take part in the event ever year and with a new trail, the 2019 event is expected to be no different.
The event will be held over 36 hours from 29 to 30 March and registrations for the event open on 7 August at trailwalker.oxfam.org.au.
