2008 Great Escape

Thirty eight brightly coloured and themed rally cars took part in the 2008 Cystic Fibrosis Australia Great Escape Car Rally, sponsored by Kitome, which ran from Penrith to the Barossa Valley via The Great Ocean Road from 8 to 18 September 2008.

I am enormously grateful to all our rally entrants, along with their families and supporters, for making the 2008 Great Escape another financial success. I’m proud to say that this year’s rally raised a total of $350,000 for Cystic Fibrosis research. My thanks are even more heartfelt as I realise the difficultly our entrants faced in raising funds within the current financial climate.

This year’s Great Escape covered 4,200kms during the 10 day journey and along the route the rally visited Tuena, Tumut and Albury in New South Wales; Bright, Ballarat and Camperdown including the Great Ocean Road, in Victoria; and in the final leg of the rally Frances and Swan Reach in South Australia, before reaching the finish line in the beautiful Barossa Valley.

As the rally visited the different towns along the route we meet so many individuals, businesses and Cystic Fibrosis families who welcomed us to their towns and my warmest thanks go out to all for their hospitality.

A big thank also go to our Road Boss Jamie Lawson and his team of officials for putting on another successful rally. 2008 is being touted as “The Best Yet”.

The serious side of the rally is that we are raising funds and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis, which is a genetic condition that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system and sadly results in a shortened life expectancy. Funds raised through the Great Escape will be directed to research projects and support services for children and young adults living with Cystic Fibrosis.

Congratulations once again to all our entrants for a great effort and we hope to see you all back in 2009.

Kind regards

Terry Stewart
Chief Executive Officer
Cystic Fibrosis Australia