Robert Chappel, Mick Bruyn and Arnold Ward are taking to the dusty tracks to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. The trio will take part in the Drover’s Run and will  leave the country music capital at the end of the month for the journey of a lifetime.

The group of three mates are part of Whitehaven Maules Creek’s A4 crew and have been busy mustering up funds for the big fundraiser road trip. They will join a convoy of 30 vehicles on the four-wheel-drive outback adventure which will see them travel 4300km over two weeks.

The event is now in its fourth year and continues to grow in popularity with fundraising adventures and stop-offs at outback towns along the way. The convoy will leave Tamworth on July 29 and will head into South Australia before returning to Tamworth on August 11.

“We’re doing this to keep the bird in the air,” Mr Bruyn said.

“You never know when you’re going to need it, Mr Ward said.

Mr Chappel put out the call for volunteers for the run about a year ago and said the group has been actively fundraising ever since. Including a breakfast barbecue for the mine’s shift workers which he said raised about $500.

“We're doing this because we care about our community and keeping the chopper in the air,” Mr Chappel said.

The group is planning some fundraising activities while on the road.

“We’re going to do some stop overs at schools, we’re going to take some rulers and pencils to some of those outreach schools,” Mr Bruyn said.

“We’ll have fundraisers at hotels and pubs along the way on the nights,” Mr Ward said. “We have the siren and flashing lights on the car so whenever we come to a town people will know we’re here.”

The group have also set up a fundraiser page on the GoFundraise website under their names.