Diggers Rest charity founder Jason Fenech with one of the children from the Nui Day community.
Diggers Rest charity founder Jason Fenech will be in Deniliquin this weekend, as part of his Exercise Vagabonds Trek 2026 between Hobart and Brisbane.
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Diggers Rest was established in 2012 to support children living in poverty around the former Australian military base known as Nui Dat, near Long Tan in Vietnam.
Group members are also the volunteer caretakers of the Long Tan Cross Memorial in Vietnam.
The trek is a fundraising pilgrimage for the charity, and will make its stop at the Deniliquin RSL Club this Sunday.
There will an own-cost lunch in the bistro with Mr Fenech from 12pm, and a chance to buy artefacts and trinkets brought back from Vietnam to support the Nui Dat community.
From 1.45pm, guests will move to the upstairs Mountbatten Room where Mr Fenech - an Australian soldier and veteran himself - will share his experiences as an aid worker in Vietnam.
Mr Fenech is also responsible for the forging of four special bells made from the brass casing left behind at the Nui Dat tactile area, one of which is on display to the Deniliquin RSL Club until next year.
‘The Last Bell’ is one of four handcrafted brass bells made in Ba Ria, and is on loan to the club by the daughter of a veteran who service with Deniliquin RSL Sub-branch member John Harris.
The other bells are called ‘The Bell’, ‘The Next Bell’ and ‘My Bell’.
Diggers Rest volunteers also use charity funds to maintain the Long Tan Memorial in Vietnam.
Mr Fenech said Diggers Rest has long been committed to supporting disadvantaged children in Vietnam.
Beyond education support, the organisation provides practical assistance wherever possible.
“We provide whatever we can to whoever needs it if we possibly can - motorcycles, glasses, surgery, medication, food parcels, etcetera.”
Fr Fenech highlighted the success of last year's Exercise Vagabonds Trek, which crossed Australia and raised almost $9000.
“We paid the school fees for 131 children and did a heap more,” he said.
Proceeds from the trek also help support the maintenance of the Long Tan Cross Memorial in Vietnam, one of only two foreign memorials permitted by the Vietnamese Government.
“Currently we receive no funding from the Australian government to maintain the site, which is visited by thousands yearly,” he said.
Admiring the display of ‘The Last Bell’ are Deniliquin RSL CEO Peter Duncan and Sub-branch members John Trist and John Harris.
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