Charlotte raises five figures for The Outpost Inc.

AFTER completing her 30th fundraising day of running a kilometre a day, five-year-old Charlotte O’Brien has raised over $11,000 for a Geelong homelessness service, inspired thousands and met the man who first gave her the idea to do it.

Cheered on by a large crowd for her final lap at South Geelong’s Landy Fields on Monday, it was a surprise visit from Nedd Brockmann on day 27 last Friday that made her dreams come true, for it was his million-dollar charity run from Western Australia to New South Wales that inspired Charlotte to say “if he was doing it then I could do it”.

“When he turned up, she turned to my dad and said oh my gosh, it’s Nedd Brockmann… it was so nice to have Charlotte meet her inspiration,” Charlotte’s mum Thalia O’Brien said.

“She was flabbergasted that he said to her are you ready to run… he actually did a 400m lap with her.

“You always hope your kids will have great people that inspire and motivate them to be good and kind people and Charlotte has that in Nedd.”

The $11,000 raised will go directly to The Outpost so it can provide food and relief for those that need it in Geelong, as the 30-year-old institution itself searches for a new home when its CBD lease ends in the new year.

The organisation’s vice-president Amy Flint said the money equates to over 5,000 meals, “but even more than that, through Charlotte’s advocacy, new faces are walking through the doors to seek assistance, old volunteers are returning and new people are reaching out”.

“There is a buzz around The Outpost flamed by the passion or our littlest hero,” she said.

Charlotte and her family visited The Outpost community for a celebratory meal on Tuesday night and her mother Thalia said she was already being asked “when the next time is she can run again”.

“I’m saying let’s wait till next year… she thinks that’s a long time, but it’s less than 40 days.”