East Coast Truck Show in Gisborne raising funds for Planet Sunshine

The East Coast Truck Show returns to Gisborne in early November, fundraising for Planet Sunshine at Gisborne Hospital.

Entries have been coming in steadily for the return of the East Coast Truck Show.

This year’s event will be held at MTF Awapuni Speedway in Gisborne on Saturday, November 9 from 11am to 4pm.

The event was last staged in Gisborne in 2019.

“It was the first truck show in Gisborne and that was a massive success with 160 trucks on display,” a spokeswoman for the upcoming event said.

“The committee of this show are truck enthusiasts and wanted to recreate the 2019 event.”

The event will be open to the public for a gold-coin donation, but extra donations are welcomed too.

All monetary proceeds from the show will go to Planet Sunshine, the children’s ward at Gisborne Hospital.

The spokeswoman said prizes would be awarded across several categories.

Member of the organising committee William Geuze said 67 trucks had entered so far.

He gave a “big thanks” to all the sponsors of the event for their contribution.

“It is obviously for a good cause, so it is really good to see that even in these hard times people are still willing to give and we do really appreciate that,” Geuze said.

He said it was exciting to be able to run the event again.

The organisers were motivated to start the event as a way to bring people together outside a working environment.

“It is nice for people to be able to come together in a different environment ...We’re not always working, we can come together, talk to other truck drivers and get together on a more social basis.”

He said members of the public will be able to see the trucks up close to get a sense of how big they are and gain an appreciation of the effort that goes into looking after them.