Back on the last Sunday in May, the Coop family opened up their farm in Port Levy for a motorbike trail ride as a first major fundraiser for the Diamond Harbour School Education Charitable Trust (DHSECT). This involved the organiser Grenville Button from Adventure Trail Rides spending three days setting out courses for all abilities - the pee wees, enduro and family.

The day was warm and dry, so conditions were ideal. More than 300 riders turned up from 9.00 am and burned around the course. It took around one and a half hours to complete the enduro, so most riders were able to ride two or three laps. The riders came from all over the South Island.

Trustee Carolyn Stiles had done a fantastic job organising the food and drinks and together with a great team of helpers everything sold added to the funds that were raised.

The event was very well supported by locals, especially on the peewee course where there were smiles all round. On the main course, there was some great feedback on the quality of the course and the organisation of the day.

The trust had many fantastic helpers (marshalls, foodies, BBQers) who were all connected to the school. If you were one of those people, please take this as a personal thank you from the Trust. The event couldn’t have run without you.

DHSECT raised over $9300.00 from this event. The Trust’s purpose is to fund items for the school over and above what the Ministry can provide to allow pupils to have extra opportunities in education. For the fund to be accessed there is a robust application and approval process.

Once again, many thanks to all those who helped. You have given extra funding for children’s education in our school a great kick start.

DHSECT (Tim Coop, Carolyn Styles, Hamish Laird, Ian Luxford, Alex Foster).