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Newcastle Toy Run WORDS LIANE MORRIS The annual festive season favourite, Bikers for Kids Newcastle Toy Run, is gearing up to be bigger than ever this December. With the rising cost of living hurting more family households, the charity that helps over 4,500 families each year to bring the Christmas spirit to the young people of the Hunter is reaching out to the community to do all it can to help support the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. Held on the first Sunday of December for over forty years, the Newcastle Toy Run has collected toy donations and raised funds for disadvantaged children and those in need across the Hunter Region for generations. The Newcastle Toy Run begins at Ballast Park in Stockton at 10am sharp and finishes at Connelly Park in Carrington, with live music, free rides for the kids, merchandise for purchase, food, drinks and lots more fun in a spectacle that caters for both spectators and riders. The story all began in 1978 at the Federal Hotel, which was on Auckland Street in Newcastle. About fifty bikers were there, members of the New Tech Tourers, and encouraged by Barry London, who was the main instigator, the group decided to collect toys for Christmas and gift them to the Woodlands Boys Home, which ran from 1944
to 1981 in Wallsend. Little did they know that it was the start of a long tradition that is still in operation today, with as many as 10,000 bikers now taking part and many thousands of families benefiting from their ongoing commitment and generosity. The event continued for a decade, and when it looked like it might fade, one of the original bikers, Big John Young, decided to take it on and keep it going. It was formalised in 1990 as an incorporated entity with seven people on the committee, including a member of the Salvation Army, Howard Mole. Howard was also a rider until three years ago when age caught up with him. Howard now serves on the board of the Soul Café and, in 2018, was recognised as a Freeman of the City of Newcastle in acknowledgement of his lifelong commitment to charity work in Newcastle, including the events run by Bikers for Kids Incorporated. Big John Young himself received a Centenary Medal and an Order of Australia Medal for his services to children and the Newcastle community and stepped aside in 2017. In 1986, a youthful Daryn Young, Big John’s son, did his first toy run. “I remember the feeling,” said Daryn. “It’s just magic seeing everyone cheer us on from the side of the roads. We don’t get to see the kids’ faces on Christmas morning, but we know that
Daryn Young
we’re putting smiles on faces – not just the kids who get the toys but their parents, too. Being able to choose a gift, wrap it up and put it under the family Christmas tree is something most of us take for granted. I worked on Newcastle Toy Run under Dad for two years before taking it on myself. I didn’t hesitate. We all wear our hearts on our sleeves here, and we’re very passionate about it.” Fellow committee member Stephen Meek agrees with Daryn about how the run makes the bikers feel. “I personally find it very rewarding,” said Stephen. “People waving, kids smiling, it’s an emotional thing, and once you start, you can’t stop. Over the years, the run has changed due to traffic management and the increased number of participants, but we’ve got it down to a fine art now.” The run attracts thousands of bikers from across the country. It is the largest and oldest biker run in Australia and often ends up on biker’s bucket lists. “Last year, we had riders who rode all the way from Adelaide and another guy who flew in from the Northern Territory and hired a bike here just because it was on their bucket list of great things to do as a biker,” said Daryn. “In 2014 we broke the record for the most bikers with 10,500 participating, and every ▶ 43
