Raffle draw replaces cancelled Wine Walk

VICTORIA’S “circuit breaker” lockdown forced the cancellation of the Geelong Wine Walk earlier this month, but organisers are offering a raffle or a refund to ticketholders to make up for it.

The annual event is one of the two major fundraisers for the APCO Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation set up by the network of petrol stations, to support health, poverty, education and disaster relief initiatives across Victoria.

The 2021 Geelong Wine Walk, which had media personality Shane Crawford as an ambassador, was set to go ahead on February 13 at seven venues on Geelong’s waterfront.

However, the five-day statewide lockdown – and its re-introduction of limitations on public movement – came into effect at 11.59pm the day before.

APCO Foundation organisers announced the cancellation “with a heavy heart” on their Facebook page on the afternoon of February 12.

“We were so looking forward to you joining us tomorrow however it is unfortunately not to be and of course, the safety of everyone comes first,” the social media post said.

Ticketholders were advised they had two options – either request a refund via Eventbrite, or donate the $120 cost of the ticket to the APCO Foundation and go into the draw to win one of seven prizes in a raffle.

The major prize is a bottle of Penfolds Grange wine, and there are also six packs of six bottles of wine each to be won.
The draw was to be held on Saturday, February 20, but will now be held this Saturday, February 27.

“As we know how busy the last week has been for everyone – we understand not everyone has had the time to put in a request for a refund,” APCO Foundation posted on Monday this week.

Ticketholders now have until midnight tomorrow (Friday, February 26) to put in their refund request. Anyone having trouble doing so should email Layla at [email protected].

The APCO Foundation’s recent donations include $10,000 to Wombats Wish, $15,000 to Cottage By The Sea, $5,000 to families struggling due to kidney disease, $3,000 to The Dress Up Place to provide jobs to people with disabilities, $3,000 to Samaritan House to furnish a house for a homeless person, and $5,000 to a family of a young child struggling with a metastatic brain tumour.