Oxfam Trailwalker: Charity event to debut in New Plymouth this year

Oxfam New Zealand's national charity event Oxfam Trailwalker makes it's debut in the region this year. Photo/ Art Francisco.

A national charity event is debuting in the Taranaki region this year.

For the first time, Oxfam New Zealand's charity event Oxfam Trailwalker is coming to New Plymouth in March.

New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) in partnership with Venture Taranaki won the right to host the event and be the destination partner for the next three years.

Teams of four walk 50km in 18 hours or 100km in 36 hours. Instead of a traditional relay, teams start and finish the event together.

The event first started in 2006. Over 700 people in 187 teams took part in Oxfam New Zealand's inaugural Oxfam Trailwalker.

Money raised from the event goes towards helping those suffering from poverty by funding development projects across the Pacific.

Events operations and logistics executive Natasha Payne says she is 'pleased' the event is taking place in New Plymouth.

"New Plymouth is a stunning place, I'm excited it is being held here. Each year the trail changes so for the first year in the region, we were wanting to celebrate the township of New Plymouth."

The course starts and finishes at Ngamotu beach, she says.

"It goes through a range of terrain from private land, to the coast. We wanted to try and incorporate everything that is beautiful in New Plymouth."

She says no two courses are the same.

"This year we have a lot of private landowners involved which is quite special."

She says 370 teams are set to take part in the event.

"We've had a lot of interest, it's completely booked out. What is interesting to note is 30 per cent of teams are from Auckland, 30 per cent are from Wellington and just under that registered locally and the rest of the percentage is made up from participants from other parts of the country. It's awesome the event has received a lot of support from the region. We're hoping to raise one million dollars."

Natasha says the event positively affects the region.

"The event is bringing a lot of people to town who will be spending their money locally. All the accommodation places I've talked to have said they're completely booked out for the event."

■ The Oxfam Trailwalker takes place March 20-21.