Bright yellow T-shirts could be spotted along the roads throughout the Illawarra on Saturday, as hundreds of walkers took part in the Great Illawarra Walk.
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Despite soggy ground and threatening rain, more than 400 people took part on Saturday, walking a 40km path between Shellharbour and Austinmer for the 15th annual event.
Among them were friends Naomi Chesney, Belinda Morgan and Shannah Sprod, who added to their colourful outfits with novelty umbrella hats in an effort to keep off the drizzle.
"It's pretty hard and long, we've been going since about 6.45am," Ms Chesney said, during a breakfast stop in Wollongong.
"But you feel good when you've done it, it's fun and it's always for a good cause," Ms Sprod said.
"It's good to be part of a cause that helps kids, and everyone is in a good mood. It also just feels so nice to be out and about doing something with other people."
Since its inception in 2008, the Great Illawarra Walk has raised more than one million dollars for children in need throughout the Illawarra, including Camp Quality, Wollongong Hospital's Neonatal Unit and the Saving Chloe Saxby Foundation.
In 2022, participants have so far raised more than $50,000 towards building a purpose-fit gym for athletes with disabilities through the Illawarra Academy of Sport's Athlete with a Disability program.
The Athlete with a Disability program is designed to support the developmental needs of the region's talented athletes with disabilities by providing industry leading high-performance sport development programs.
Since the IAS was founded in 1985, more than 115 para-athletes have been through the program, including Tokyo Paralympic Games silver medallist, Jasmine Greenwood.
According to Great Illawarra Walk organisers, many of the IAS's current para-athletes took part in Saturday's event, joining in the walk or helping to hand out water at stations along the way.
Illawarra Academy of Sport Chief Executive Officer John Armstrong said the organisation was honoured to be associated with the annual fundraiser.
"The support this partnership will provide is phenomenal, as is the wealth of new, exciting opportunities that will benefit the talented para-athletes of the region," he said.
The estimated cost of the gym and specialised equipment is $150,000, a goal which the walk organisers were hoping to reach this year.
Organisers said funding pledges would keep coming in after Saturday's events, with community members encouraged to donate at www.greatillawarrawalk.com
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
