Albany charity concert Davestock to start scooter ride in Manjimup to raise money for hospice organisation

A charity music festival has inspired a single-man e-scooter ride from Manjimup to Albany to help raise funds for the Albany Community Hospice. Wade Morrison will be riding an e-scooter from Manjimup, through to Frankland River, Mount Barker and Albany on November 22 to help raise money as a part of the annual charity music festival Davestock, in memory of his father, Albany musician Dave Morrison. The locations Mr Morrison will stop by are said to hold significance for the Morrison family and the ride he will take is a tribute to the memories associated with the locations, with performances being held at each stop to help raise money. Riding at 15km an hour during daylight, Mr Morrison and his crew will take about three days to finish the 219km trip from Manjimup to Albany. The main charity concert will take place at Retravision Stadium on November 25 from 6pm to midnight on two stages, with bands and artists including Madd Dog Roadie, Rosie Williamson, Simon London + the Spirits and Dig The Dust. The concert was being held in November for the first time, with the main reasons the warmer weather and it being Dave’s birthday weekend. All proceeds from Davestock 2023 will go to the Albany Community Hospice, an organisation that provides critical end-of-life care and support to those in need. Mr Morrison said this year’s Davestock was the third time the concert was held and he anticipated another big crowd for the event, given the people who knew his father. “It’s all going quite well, this year we’ve taken a different approach with taking some activities outside of the event including this scooter ride,” he said. “I think the main key is that I was fortunate enough to play 600 gigs with him, and people were able to play gigs with him as well. “There were other people who lost my dad, not just me, and that’s why everyone’s so on board to be a part of the concert.” Mr Morrison said the scooter ride was a new idea to help raise funds, in an attempt to one-up the previous year’s donation goal. “I had a goal of beating last year’s donations and needed to pull something out of left field, and I decided to be the stupid one who decided to do over 200km,” he said. “Manjimup is a place full of memories for us and I’ll start near the main street, close to Bath Street where my great nan grew up.” His decision to choose Albany Community Hospice was based on his experience with the hospice nurses in the centre and their significance to his father in his later years. “If you have witnessed anyone in hospice, you know how hard it is for the people who work there, I know I certainly couldn’t do it,” Mr Morrison said. “A lot of the ladies who knew my dad had a hard time, and it was hard for them to take care of him, knowing him personally, because it wasn’t just us saying goodbye to him, it was everyone.”