Taylor Chief Financial Officer, Clive Wickham, has once again joined the 35ᵗʰ Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Outback Car Trek, an 11-day, roughly 3,800km run from Bathurst to Cairns. The 2025 Trek is set to be the largest since the pandemic, with about 240 crews in cars more than 30 years old tackling the red-dirt route through Dubbo, Bourke, Longreach, Julia Creek and Karumba Point.
Now in its 35th year, the event has raised more than $36 million for the RFDS. Beyond fundraising, the Trek is a celebration of camaraderie, adventure and community spirit: participants guide ageing vehicles across challenging country, bringing not only donations, but also a welcome surge of trade and interest to every town they reach.
This is Clive’s 11ᵗʰ Trek since 2007, a tradition he shares with his brother Phil. The pair are once again driving their custom-built 1970 Ford Mustang, supported by long-time sponsor the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
On the way to the Bathurst start line, Clive visited our Project Team, who are currently delivering the Blayney Multi Purpose Service (MPS) Redevelopment project—the final site to be delivered under the NSW Government’s A$297 million Multipurpose Service Program Stage 5, which upgrades health facilities in smaller rural and remote communities.
While the Blayney MPS does not rely on the RFDS, many facilities in more rural or remote communities do, underscoring the importance of the Flying Doctor. .. Even with upgraded facilities, many smaller hospitals still rely on RFDS aircraft for critical transfers, specialist clinics, and emergency retrievals when patients need care that only larger regional or metropolitan centres can provide.
Funds raised by Trekkers help keep those aircraft in the air and the medical teams on call for towns across the outback—including the communities where Taylor builds.
Safe travels, Clive. The entire Taylor team is with you for every dusty kilometre north.
