Granite Belt Brewery gets behind LifeFlight gala fundraiser to raise crucial funds for rural health access

One Southern Downs business has rallied to help ensure everyone in the region has access to ‘crucial’ medical help, raising more than $500,000 in the process.

A Southern Downs business has gotten behind rural health access and lifesaving initiatives by raising almost $500,000 for charity by partnering for a gala event.

Granite Belt Brewery and Retreat has been operating in Stanthorpe for more than a decade and last weekend, the brewery partnered with LifeFlight for a black tie ball for the charity, which promoted access to health in rural areas - which a lot of the time can be the difference between life and death when something goes wrong.

Granite Belt Brewery and Retreat owner Dee Davenport said she was made aware of the importance of services like LifeFlight through personally knowing people who had required it and used it.

“We’re always aware of the helicopters now, we can hear it coming. Our neighbour used it once and was flown for medical help, and that was a turning point for us, we started to donate to LifeFlight,” she said.

“We did another few donations, and they told us, we could supply for the night and become a presenting partner for the gala in Toowoomba.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for us as a business and was a great cause, and pretty amazing seeing 650 people all holding our beer.

Granite Belt Brewery's Geoff Davenport.

“We’ve got excellent facilities in Stanthorpe, but some cases are so critical and serious that they have to be flown, that’s why organisations like LifeFlight are so important to us, and ever since we started we realised that once you’re aware of something you start noticing it more.”

Mrs Davenport said she really hoped her and her family would never use it, but said it was “good to know it’s there for you”.

“We realised the cost of the entire operation and how important it is, but expensive, and how important donation and sponsorship is to keep it all going smoothly - it was such a lovely opportunity,” she said.

Mark and Vanessa Richards at LifeFlight Toowoomba Gala at The Goods Shed, Saturday, May 6, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The importance of organisations like LifeFlight was evident over the weekend, when a Warwick couple shared their heartwarming story. 

Vanessa and Mark Richards’ world collapsed when their then-two-year-old son Emmett developed a severe illness, the couple said.

The couple rushed their son to Warwick Hospital with symptoms including abnormal breathing, temperatures, vomiting and disinterest in eating or drinking- he had developed a severe case of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

As little Emmett’s health continued to deteriorate, the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue team were then called in to assist and the Richards family credits the charity for saving their son’s life.

LifeFlight Toowoomba Gala at The Goods Shed, Saturday, May 6, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We’re so grateful for all the LifeFlight team did and I’m fairly certain there would have been a different outcome for us as a family without their help,” Ms Richards told The Chronicle.

“At one stage when we were on the helicopter I just burst into tears and one of the critical care paramedics knelt down and told me it was going to be OK.”

Originally published as Granite Belt Brewery gets behind LifeFlight gala fundraiser to raise crucial funds for rural health access