Variety QLD Motoring Events

04/10/2026

G’day Variety Family 👋

We have an extra special for you to enjoy – please feel free to share this story with your supporters.

FROM A MEAT TRAY TO A WHOLE LOT OF POSSIBILITY

Sometimes, a Variety grant starts in the most unexpected places. For Amelia, 9, it started with a meat tray.

Sean from the Trollz team (Car 32) held a meat raffle in Emerald, a regional town located in the Central Highlands, to raise funds for the 2026 QLD Variety Bash.

Amelia’s family won the tray – and Sean got to know this beautiful family a little better. He soon realised there was something Variety could do to help.

Amelia was born with a cervicofacial lymphatic malformation, a complex condition that affected her airway. She was unable to breathe independently when she was born and, at just 10 days old, doctors performed a tracheostomy to help keep her airway open. She has lived with a trach ever since.

Her family has navigated multiple surgeries, ongoing medical care and more recently, diagnoses of autism and ADHD. But through it all, Amelia has remained, in Dad David’s words, an “absolute delight” – a kid who loves being around other children and getting involved.

One of the challenges has been building Amelia’s strength and gross motor skills. She found playground equipment difficult to navigate, often losing her balance and bruising easily. And with limited access to occupational therapy in regional Queensland, her family had to get creative, using things like gymnastics and piano lessons to help support her development.

Then came the Variety Queensland grant.

The $7,298 grant provided Amelia with a jungle gym and trampoline at home, giving her a safe, accessible space to practise climbing, balancing and moving at her own pace. And she didn’t waste any time.

“When we finished, the girls were climbing up,” David shared at the grant presentation. “It’s like a three-storey sort of nooks and crannies you’ve got to climb through.”

Amelia and her sister Clara even created their own library at the very top.

“Amelia learned to actually use the monkey bars and climb onto the ropes up to the very top,” David said. “Seeing her gross motor skills just skyrocket...is just awesome.”

The impact has reached beyond the backyard, too.

“It’s given a bit more confidence at school to do some of the other normal stuff that kids do,” David said.

When the Bash rolled into Capella, Amelia and Clara were a ball of energy – running around and even racing the Bashers.

One of the highlights of the evening was when Cameron, a member of the RAAF and volunteer medical driver on this year’s Bash, presented the girls with a challenge coin – a symbol of recognition, honouring someone’s strength, character and resilience.

And there’s more good news on the horizon. Amelia’s doctors are preparing to trial removing her tracheostomy, something her family says is both exciting and a little scary.

“It’s still a long journey, but it’s all great,” David said.

For Amelia, the jungle gym and trampoline are more than somewhere to play. They’re giving her the chance to build strength, confidence and independence – and to discover just how much she can do.

And it all started with a meat tray, a Basher who took the time to get to know a family, and a community that believes every child deserves the opportunity to live without limits.

“I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who brought us the trampoline and the treehouse and the jungle gym!” Amelia said.

22/09/2026

G'day Bashers, something exciting is waiting for you!
Check your inbox for the latest newsletter.

20/09/2026

Today is – and we’re taking a moment to say THANK YOU.

To celebrate, we’re sharing our latest video featuring Tanya Martin, Principal of Innisfail State College, showing the incredible impact of your support.

Variety QLD provided the school with a $15,000 community grant for interactive, inclusive musical playground equipment – creating new opportunities for 45 students at the College’s Special School to play, connect and have fun together.

This is what your support makes possible!

Every time you:

Join the Variety Bash, Variety 4WD Adventure or Yamaha Variety Jet Trek
Take part in another Variety event – or create your own
Enter the Variety Heart Lottery or become a VIP Club member
Become a regular giver, corporate partner or leave a gift in your will
Give your time, goods or services

…you’re helping Variety be there for children who are sick, experiencing disadvantage or living with disabilities.

Together, we’re making sure Queensland kids are seen, supported and celebrated. Together, we’re building a future without limits!

Thank you for being part of our big-hearted Variety family. Your kindness creates possibility for kids and families across Queensland – and today, we’re especially grateful for you. 💛

01/09/2026

Got the post-Bash blues? 🚙

We've got just the cure...registrations for the 2027 QLD Variety Bash are NOW OPEN!

Visit our brand-new website to relive some incredible 2026 Bash memories, discover what's in store for 2027, and get ready to take the road less travelled with the Variety Family.

We can't wait for the 2027 QLD Variety Bash - from Roma to the Sunshine Coast via Airlie Beach! Dusty Tracks to Beach Shacks - it's going to be one unforgettable adventure, all while helping make a real difference for Queensland kids.

Early Bird Here 👉 https://www.varietybashqld.com.au/

(Keep an eye out on the newsletter for official release of photos and videos!)

27/08/2026

10 days. 3,000 kilometres. 100+ cars. 300+ Bashers. More than 1,200 kids impacted. $170,000 in grants along the way. But somehow, the numbers still don’t tell the whole story. Because what can words say that your actions haven’t already?

You chose Variety. You chose to step in, fill the gaps and help make sure Aussie kids and communities have the support they need. And over the past 10 days, it has been nothing short of incredible watching the Variety family come together with purpose.

We’ve watched engines being fixed on the side of the road. People laughing until they cried. Swags unrolled and rolled. Bashers sitting around fires reflecting on the day. Dinners shared with people who, somewhere along the journey, became mates, but not just mates, mates with purpose. We’ve watched old friendships pick up exactly where they left off. Friendships that have and no doubt will span countless Bashes still to come. But most of all, we’ve seen the difference this journey has made for kids, families and communities.

And through all of it, there has always been a reason behind every kilometre, every costume, every fundraiser, and every dusty car: to help Aussie kids reach their full potential, no matter their ability or circumstance. That is what you have achieved together, impact that lasts long after the engines fall silent.

So tonight, as we celebrate the final night - proudly supported by Gladstone Regional Council's Ignite Event Fund - of an extraordinary 2026 QLD Variety Bash, congratulations to every Basher, volunteer, supporter, donor, community and family who helped make this journey possible. This is the Variety family far and near. You showed up. You gave back. You made a difference. Let's celebrate!!!

26/08/2026

It’s been a fun few days on the Bash, and a real licorice allsorts of everything we love about the journey!

From amazing school stops and one seriously delicious bake sale, to families standing along the roadside waving as the colourful convoy rolls through. Those little moments of country hospitality never get old.

We’ve slept under the stars, wound our way through spectacular country, emerged from the gorge beneath incredible towering cliffs, and watched the road change from dirt to bitumen and back again.

Sometimes it’s the changing landscapes, sometimes it’s the people you meet, and sometimes it’s simply the road ahead that reminds you just how much there is to experience when you choose to take the long way around.

Keep exploring. Keep connecting. Keep making every kilometre count.

24/08/2026

24/08/2026

The sweeping plains, dusty tracks, mountain ranges, creek crossings, little towns and endless horizons. The bush has a kind of magic to it. It gets under your skin, slows you down and reminds you to look around.

Somewhere along the way, you realise the journey is doing more than taking you from one place to another. It is changing you. Out here, surrounded by endless landscapes, the bigger picture becomes a little clearer. You are reminded that possibility is everywhere, and that hope often begins with the people willing to reach for it.

And it is hard not to see a reflection of that journey in our Bashers too. Long before the cars hit the road, there were months of fundraising, planning, persistence and generosity. Every effort made in support of Variety helps create hope, open doors and support Aussie kids and families when help is needed most. None of that happens without you.

Perhaps that is why everything from sugar cane fields to coal trains feels like such a fitting backdrop to the Bash. Australia is resilient. Steadfast. Beautiful. And there is something of that same spirit in every Basher who made it here. The determination to keep going. The generosity to give back. The belief that every effort, no matter how big or small, can create something better.

So today, slow down when you can. Look out the window. Take in the country around you. Laugh with your mates. Be proud of what it took to get here, because the journey behind us and the road still ahead are about so much more than kilometres travelled. Every effort has helped create hope, opportunity and possibility for Aussie kids and families. And the impact you leave in the people and communities we travel through will continue long after the dust has settled.

24/08/2026

It was a great morning kicking off with The Wiggles, as the cars fired up and got ready to add a few more kilometres to the Bash odometer.

Then came an incredible lunch stop, where Mistake Creek State School pulled out all the stops with a fantastic lunch and some seriously warm country hospitality. A grant to support future learning for four incredible students that loved every minute of the visit.

Fed, watered and ready to roll, it was back onto the dusty roads. Engines were warm, dust was flying and the Bash convoy rolled past some of Queensland’s most iconic outback backdrops. At times, with the dust hanging in the air and a convoy of colourful machines roaring through the landscape, it felt like we had wandered onto the set of Mad Max.

It was great watching the cars overtake, pull over, regroup, chatter over the radios and simply get on with what Bashers do best... driving every kilometre for change for Queensland kids. Dust, noise, laughs and a whole lot of colourful chaos rolling through the Queensland outback.The best journeys are the ones that mean something.

23/08/2026

Taking some time to slow down on lay day and look back on the first few days, one thing is already clear: everyone is finding their rhythm on the road, settling into the journey and reconnecting with what makes the Bash so special.

The Variety Bash is a collective effort, powered by people who choose to show up, give back and support Variety, all to help Aussie kids have a fair go. Along the way, lifelong friendships have been formed, and new ones are still being made. Stories are shared, memories are created and, for many, this incredible community has sparked love, created belonging and given real purpose.

Mateship is one of the Queensland Variety Bash values, and when that mateship is paired with purpose, it creates real change for Aussie kids. The only difference we should see in this world is the difference we make, making more things possible, more inclusive and more life-changing for children and families who need it most.

It is incredible to watch the Variety family come together. The support, the spirit and the heart behind it all is truly like nothing else.

That is the Bash.
That is mateship with purpose.
And that is how change happens.

And perhaps no words sum up the Bash better than these. ❤️➡️