ALLAN Turner, co-principal of Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, established in memory of his daughter Zaideee, to raise awareness of the need for increased organ and tissue donor registration in Australia, says he will never return to Phillip Island again.
And he rates the difficulties in dealing with the Bass Coast Shire Council as one of the main reasons why the event has been switched away, from San Remo or Cowes, to Geelong on Sunday, October 29 next year, the weekend after the Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island, likely never to return.
“They’re hard to deal with. The number of hurdles they had for us, one after the other.
“I appreciate they’ve got a rule book that you’ve got to work through but the amount of forms we had to fill out would have been twice as much as any other council,” said Mr Turner
“As well as the event went on Sunday (October 9) in Cowes, and I’ve got to say 97 per cent of the Cowes traders were supportive of us closing off the street for the day, it wasn’t where we wanted to hold it.
“We had it all set up at the Cowes footy ground, and if the weather had been with us, we had food trucks organised, a big stage, all sorts of entertainment and plenty of room for the bikes.
“It would have been great.
“We didn’t actually get any rain at the times we had planned for our events, and Sunday was a great day, but the motorbike riders looking at the weather back in Melbourne would have thought there was no point going.”
Mr Turner said he also received some feedback that riders didn’t want to visit Phillip Island two weekends in-a-row, with the MotoGP on the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Many Island locals thought the same.
“We would have loved to go back to San Remo, but the traders didn’t want it in the main street. The council offered us another location in San Remo which wasn’t suitable.
“We had a debriefing with them by Zoom and told them if that’s what they were offering we’d have to take it somewhere else.
“But they didn’t say anything. They didn’t try to keep the event.
“It makes you wonder if they were happy for us to leave.”
Mr Turner also claimed there wasn’t a lot of support from the San Remo traders either.
“The people who came along to Cowes on the Sunday all thoroughly enjoyed their day and the blessing event itself went well. We had great support from the police and all the cafes and shops in the town were full, but it just wasn’t a commercial success for us, and we didn’t get the chance to put the important message out there about the importance of organ and tissue donor registration.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to raise money for child health research and that’s a responsibility we take very seriously.
“So, Geelong it is and they couldn’t have been more helpful, the traders and the council.
“Plus, while we’re holding it the weekend after the Phillip Island Grand Prix, it won’t really be clashing with it. We may miss out on riders from the eastern part of Victoria and interstate but we’ll attract a lot of riders from the Geelong area, western parts of the state and also places like Werribee, Ballarat, Bendigo and all that area, people who might like to come down here for the ‘Blessing’ while taking the opportunity to ride the Great Ocean Road and all that.
“Look, they say you shouldn’t say never, but that’s certainly the way we’re leaning at the moment,” Mr Turner said.
But he rejected claims he said: “Those bridges have been burned”.
About Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation
Zaidee Rose Alexander Turner, aged 7 years and 22 days, died suddenly on 2nd December 2004 from a Cerebral Aneurysm. At the time of Zaidee’s death the Turner family had been registered Organ and Tissue Donors for 5 years. Zaidee donated her Organs and Tissues at the Royal Children’s Hospital, as were her wishes at the time.
From this gift, the lives of seven other people were improved or saved. Zaidee’s parents, Kim and Allan, founded Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation to raise awareness of the need for increased organ and tissue donor registration in Australia.
Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation partners with various organisations and members of the sporting community and hosts events that promote an active lifestyle. Through these partnerships, the foundation shares information and promotes discussion within families just like the Turners about organ and tissue donation.
Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation also supports Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI). Murdoch Children's Research Institute is the largest child health research institute in Australia and one of the top three worldwide for research quality and impact. MCRI’s team of more than 1200 talented researchers is dedicated to making discoveries that make a difference for children’s health.
If you would like to donate to Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation go to https://www.zaidee.org/
