Inverleigh set for a great Friday!

A LOCAL Good Friday Appeal event is returning this Easter for the first time since before the pandemic.

With the aim of supporting the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Inverleigh and District Good Friday Appeal will be held Friday, 7 April at Victoria Park.

There’ll be jumping castles, a petting zoo, a silent auction, market and food stalls, a classic car display and much more, along with free entry and free parking to make it easy for families.

Organiser, Jay Cook, said the day is all about families with all money going towards the Good Friday Appeal.

“We want to raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital because it’s a great cause,” he said. “We believe in putting on a great event for families and promoting Inverleigh at the same time.”

Mr Cook said he hopes the day will put Inverleigh on the map for visitors to the region.

This year’s appeal comes after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic where some of the events contacts were lost.

Mr Cook said this provided some challenges but the appeal has otherwise run every year between 1997 and 2019.

“We’re excited to be back,” he said.

“It never ceases to amaze me how many people come forward to offer help, so yes we’ve lost a few contacts due to the pandemic, but we’ve managed to find people to fill in the spots that we lost.”

Mr Cook said the day would be impossible without all the help they receive.

“We have a lot of volunteers and business who donate and community groups that get involved,” he said.

“There’s just so many people and so many groups that without them the day would not exist.”

The event will run from 10am until 5pm on Friday, 7 April at Victoria Park at Inverleigh.