Clive Berghofer, meet Clive Bear-ghofer.
Philanthropist Clive Berghofer has been gifted his namesake in artistic bear form to show appreciation for his significant contributions to the region’s aeromedical organisation.
The long-time LifeFlight supporter and one of the organisation’s most passionate advocates since 2007 last year announced a $1 million donation towards the new Visitor Experience and Education Centre in Toowoomba.
Clive Bear-ghofer will be permanently based at the upcoming centre and is the first of 20 individually-designed LifeFlight bear sculptures due to appear in April next year across Toowoomba’s streets, parks, and businesses as part of A Beary Big Trail.
The art trail, a free experience delivered in partnership with Wild in Art, takes the traditional fundraising method of toy teddy bears and transforms it into a shared public experience where people can follow the trail and engage with LifeFlight’s story.
The bears will be designed and painted by artists before being displayed throughout the city and then auctioned off to raise funds for LifeFlight’s First Minutes Matter emergency trauma training program and the new visitor experience and education centre.
The trail launch coincides with the 20th anniversary of LifeFlight in the Darling Downs region.
Mr Berghofer was one of the original members of the ‘Darling Downs dozen’, a group of Toowoomba locals who founded LifeFlight’s Toowoomba base in 2006.
LifeFlight Darling Downs Regional Advisory Committee chair, Emily O’Sullivan, said gifting the bear to Mr Berghofer recognised the enormous contribution he had made over nearly 20 years.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without Clive and it’s so important to acknowledge his support as we approach two decades in the Darling Downs,” Ms O’Sullivan said.
“The Beary Big Trail offers us a way to link back to the recent past through the toy teddy bears while also looking forward with plans for the new visitor experience and education centre.
“Bears will be visible in public locations around the city symbolising the comfort and hope LifeFlight brings to the community, which has given us so much in return.”
The centre is set to become a major tourism and community asset for the region, offering a behind-the-scenes look at LifeFlight’s work through interactive displays and real-life rescue stories.
It will also be a place where people can gain lifesaving skills through the First Minutes Matter emergency trauma training workshops.
The centre will be built next to the current Toowoomba base in a disused hangar.
Toowoomba was LifeFlight’s busiest base last year, with its doctors, crews and helicopters helping close to 1,000 people in a range of emergencies, including motor vehicle accidents, animal-related incidents and cardiac events.
For more information on A Beary Big Trail visit – Home – A Beary Big Trail.
For more information on First Minutes Matter or to enrol in a workshop, visit www.lifeflight.org.au/first-minutes-matter or email firstminutesmatter@lifeflight.org.au.
