It's just after 9am on a quiet Tuesday. A farmer, working alone on his property outside Wauchope, is pinned against a fence after his tractor rolls. There's no one else around. No ambulance can reach him fast enough on those back roads.
But within minutes, the call goes out — and a Westpac Rescue Helicopter is in the air.
This is not a rare story. It's an ordinary Tuesday for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. On any given week, their crews are called to quad bike rollovers, falls, roadside trauma, and medical emergencies from the coast to the high country — stabilising patients in the field and flying them to hospitals they'd never reach in time by road. It's why the Service has been there, without fail, since 1975.
Today, that means five rescue helicopters, flying from three bases, ready 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, covering a region of 1.5 million people across Northern NSW. It means a critical care doctor and paramedic on board every mission, bringing hospital-grade treatment to the roadside, the paddock, the mountainside — wherever the emergency is.
And here is the part that should matter to every business in our Chamber: The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service relies heavily on the generosity of the community it protects. Every dollar raised, every business that shows up, every hour volunteered — that's what keeps the rotors turning.
That's exactly what our October Golf Day is about.
More than a round of golf
It's easy to think of a charity golf day as just a nice excuse for a day out of the office. And yes — it is a great day out. But look a little closer and you'll see why this has the potential to become one of the most valuable days on our Chamber calendar.
It's a day where support becomes visible. Every player, every sponsor, every hole with a business's name on it is a public, tangible statement: this business backs the service that might one day save one of our own.
It's a day where relationships are built on the fairway, not across a boardroom table. Four hours walking a course with clients, competitors-turned-colleagues, and fellow Chamber members builds a kind of trust that a handshake at a networking breakfast never quite matches. Deals get discussed. Referrals get made. Friendships get formed. That's the unspoken magic of a golf day — it works, because people are relaxed, present, and having fun together.
It's a day where a business's name means something more. A hole sponsorship isn't just a sign on a tee box. It's a business quietly telling everyone on that course — clients, prospects, other sponsors — that it stands behind something that matters. That kind of goodwill lingers long after the last putt drops.
And most importantly, it's a day where the money raised does something real. It helps fund fuel, maintenance, aircrew training, and equipment for a service that might be called out to a member of our own community's family tomorrow.
Leading by example: Oxley Insurance Brokers
We're proud that Oxley Insurance Brokers is again the major sponsor — one of our own Gold Members stepping up for this event once more.
Oxley isn't a faceless national brand parachuting in for good PR. Their Port Macquarie office, run by local directors Grant and Andrew Richmond, is staffed by people who live in this region, raise their families here, and show up to Chamber events themselves. Between them, Grant and Andrew bring more than 55 years of combined experience in insurance broking, and are active members of Business Port Macquarie.
In other words: Oxley backs this event not because it looks good, but because it's genuinely who they are as a local business. When a business like Oxley puts its name behind the Rescue Helicopter Service, it sends a signal to every other business in the room — if they're in, we should be too.
That's the kind of leadership that turns a good fundraiser into a great one.
How your business can be part of it
There's a role for every business, at every level:
The real prize
At the end of the day, prizes will be won. But the real prize is what the day makes possible: another year of helicopters in the air, crews on call, and lives saved across our region — because the business community stood up and said this matters to us.
Every business that plays, sponsors, or shows up on the day becomes part of that story. This October, we invite you to be one of them.
Register your team, sponsor a hole, or get involved today. Email Kylie at executive@businesspmq.com.au for more information on how to get involved.