UPDATE, October 13, 9.20am: Since the publication of this story, the route of this year’s Daniher’s Drive has been altered.
It will no longer be driving through north-eastern Victoria on Thursday and Friday, owing to inclement weather.
“We’re incredibly disappointed that our Drive convoy won’t be able to visit the communities in Victoria’s north-east this year, but the safety of our Drive family remains our number one priority,” FightMND campaigns director Bec Daniher said.
“We also wanted to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on emergency services in impacted areas.”
The convoy still plans on travelling through the Wellington Shire on Saturday.
Our original story continues below.
A CONVOY of cars and caravans will descend on the region this Saturday as Daniher’s Drive passes through.
The event is an initiative of FightMND, and part of its ongoing efforts to raise money for research into what it calls ‘The Beast’ – motor-neurone disease (MND).
It’s a journey three years in the making, having originally been scheduled to occur in 2020 before being postponed twice due to the pandemic.
“We were pretty keen to support regional communities that have been affected by bushfires by bringing commerce to the region,” FightMND chief executive Fiona McIntosh told the Gippsland Times.
“But also, one of the motivations for the drive is (that) people in rural and regional areas do have MND, so to raise awareness and connect with people who have MND in rural and regional areas as well.”
Ms McIntosh will be among 300 people in 80 vehicles participating in the four-day event, which begins from the MCG this Thursday.
Following an overnight stop in Myrtleford, Friday will see the convoy traverse the Great Alpine Road and finish at Lakes Entrance, weather and conditions permitting.
Then on Saturday, Daniher’s Drive will be heading through Ms McIntosh’s old “stomping ground” – having grown-up in Maffra and attended school at Gippsland Grammar, Sale, Ms McIntosh said this leg of the journey would be one close to her heart.
“I’m looking forward to having those 80 cars go through Sale and stop traffic there – that’s going to be quite special for me,” she said.
Following a quick stop in Sale, the convoy will continue onto their final overnight halt at Lardner Park, before concluding their journey back in Melbourne on Sunday.
Daniher’s Drive is named in honour of FightMND’s co-founder Neale Daniher, who himself lives with the disease.
While The Beast has impacted his ability to move, walk and speak in recent times, he still plans on joining the tour at the start and end of its journey.
“We’ve got a Halloween party on our final night where everyone dresses up and it’s usually an amazing night, and Neale in particular loves that night,” Ms McIntosh said.
“His song that he really loves is ‘Mr Brightside’, so I’m sure we’ll all be dancing to that along with Neale on the final night.”
FightMND was founded in 2014 with the purpose of finding a cure for MND, which affects one in every 11,400 Australians.
“Our vision is a world free of MND, and we think we’ll be there within a decade, rather than decades,” Ms McIntosh said.
“We’ve invested over $60 million in MND research and we’ll continue to invest every year until we find a cure.”
While Ms McIntosh acknowledged that research was time-consuming and expensive, she added it is “the best weapon we have against The Beast”.
Daniher’s Drive is aiming to raise $2.5 million in its journey across eastern Victoria.
As part of the event, Ms McIntosh and FightMND campaign director Bec Daniher will make an in-store appearance at Chemist Warehouse, Sale at approximately 2.30pm on the Saturday.
To learn more about FightMND and contribute to its cause, visit fightmnd.org.au
