Ball transforms hangar
LifeFlight to host huge celebration
FIRST, it was a too-small and out-of-date base for the Toowoomba RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter aeromedical team, then it was recently transformed into a state-ofthe-art helicopter facility.
Now the new RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter hangar at the Clive Berghofer LifeFlight Centre is being transformed again - into a glamorous venue for the Behind the Hangar Doors Ball.
Hundreds of chairs are being brought in, tables are being laid, glasses are getting polished and a fantastic feast is being prepared for the sell-out crowd attending the ball tomorrow night, in support of RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopters.
“This is going to be the most unique formal event on the south-west’s social calendar, dancing and dining in a behind-the-scenes location few ever get to see,” LifeFlight Foundation spokeswoman Suzie Byrnes said.
“All that, plus the knowledge that all money raised at the event will contribute to covering the operational costs of the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter’s life-saving missions.”
There will be 450 guests, joined by at least four past patients of the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter service, enjoying a three-course meal prepared by Preston Peak Winery director and executive chef Rick Osborne.
Mr Osborne said guests would be tantalised by a regionally-sourced menu, including an organic beetroot tart, local figs, and local beef.
It’s all going on behind the two impressive one tonne hangar doors of the new facility. More than 42 tonnes of structural steel, in excess of 800 cubic metres of concrete, 30 tonnes of concrete reinforcement and over 7000 man hours have gone into the construction of the modern Clive Berghofer LifeFlight Centre, which was completed and delivered three weeks ahead of schedule.
Tomorrow’s ball will double as the official opening of the facility.
The base was made possible by the generosity of philanthropist Clive Berghofer, who donated over $2 million, matching Federal Government funding awarded to LifeFlight under the Building Better Regions Fund.
The 2017-2018 financial year was a record year for LifeFlight for lifesaving missions with its aeromedical crews, community helicopters and Air Ambulance jets performing a record 5,452 missions throughout Queensland and around the world.