Wangaratta mum Steph Lloyd is one of thousands of parents nationwide to deliver their newborn prematurely.

Being something so close to her heart, Steph and her family have been travelling down to Melbourne to participate in the annual Walk for Prems for the past two years.

This year, she didn’t have to travel so far.

The inaugural Wangaratta Walk for Prems event at Norm Minns Oval on Thursday, 16 October was well-supported by the local community, including participation from local families of premature or sick children, advocates passionate about the charity, in addition to two Wangaratta councillors.

It was the first time attending a Walk for Prems for Shannon Cutler, a Benalla mum of two preemie babies, Jack (four) and Madison (one).

“When I saw them doing the regional bits, I thought it would be good,” she said.

For herself, and undoubtedly many other parents from rural and regional Australia, resources for and about premature newborns are quite scarce.

“It wasn’t until I had a prem myself that I started becoming across it,” she said.

“Wodonga had Ronald McDonald House which was helpful, but Wangaratta – there wasn’t as much.”

It couldn’t have been a better year for Wangaratta to get involved, with the event passing through as part of Walk for Prems’ bold new fundraising initiative, ‘The Mighty Trek Challenge’.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Life's Little Treasures Foundation, the challenge involves select participants pushing a NICU incubator from town-to-town from Sydney to Melbourne.

In total, the NICU incubator will travel 900km through NSW and Victoria.

For Steph, participating in the event is a way to carry on her daughter Summer’s legacy, who tragically passed away after being born prematurely alongside her twin sister Harper, who is now eight years old.

“Her and Summer were born at 30 weeks gestation,” Steph said.

“Summer had severe restrictive growth so she was the size of a 24-week baby at only 596g.”

Steph hopes her advocacy will uplift those who may have endured similar experiences.

“I know other people are going through or will face future experiences similar to mine and have maybe not as much of a support network as me," she said.

“I want to also talk and let people know that Summer existed, I want to do good things in her name and honour her."

Felicia Welstead, CEO of Life’s Little Treasures said Steph has been an amazing advocate for Life’s Little Treasures in raising awareness of what families endure when they have a (preemie) baby.

“They often come down to Melbourne, but we’ve brought the event to their hometown today, which I think is amazing.”

Alongside the traditional, in-person mode of participation, supporters of the cause can also take part at their own pace with the ability to compete virtually.

To register and for more information about The Mighty Trek Challenge, visit themightytrek.org.au.