A Cromwell family is turning loss into legacy by working to expand free access to a national driver training programme, after seeing the difference it has made for local teenagers. 

Kelan Stroud was 17 when he died in a car crash near Cromwell last year.  

Since then, his family has channeled community support into Kelan’s Gift, a fund that pays for starting-out Cromwell drivers to attend the Street Smart programme at Highlands Motorsport Park.  

Dozens have taken part each school holidays, learning practical, hands-on skills such as emergency braking, avoiding collisions, and handling a vehicle safely at an intersection. 

Kelan’s mother, Tracy Stroud, said she lost her son in a single split-second decision. 

“Hopefully, we've changed the path for a lot of people, just by giving them the opportunity to do this course,” she said. 

With the initial $24,000 seed funding from a Givealittle page running low, the family is looking for ways to sustain and extend the programme’s reach.  

Kelan Stroud’s community has rallied to ensure his legacy helps keep other young people safe behind the wheel. Image: Givealittle

For now Cromwell youngsters can attend for free, but Tracy’s goal is for Kelan’s Gift to support others across the district - “in Ranfurly, in Becks, in all those little Central Otago towns where kids actually have to drive” - onto the programme. 

To raise the next round of funding, the family and a small committee have come up with a unique idea: a one-day outdoor sculpture trail at their Bannockburn property. 

The plan is to sell 149 tickets to the event at $149 each. 

“That's the cost to put a youth through (a Street Smart course). So effectively, they're sponsoring one youth and potentially saving a life,” Tracy said. 

Ali Stephenson, one of the crew helping to pull the day together, said the property is an “incredible place” to exhibit the art. 

"You drive to the end of the road and then you kind of drop down onto the property. It's not until you look back that you see these amazing sluice cliffs and caves and tailing piles, and it's all set in forest. 

“We’re going to have this one-kilometre, curated art trail....We’ve had some incredible support and we have some big-name local artists.” 

The art trail is on an ‘incredible’ property in Bannockburn with relics from the gold rush era. Images: Supplied

Works ranging from $149 prints to six-figure statement pieces will be exhibited for sale over the Labour Weekend event, with at least 30 percent of any sale benefiting Kelan’s Gift. 

Among the artworks will be No Escape by Nicholas Lepicino, a striking corten steel eagle with a 3.3-metre wingspan swooping down on a hare, and a larger-than-life dandelion sculpture by Wānaka-based artist Scott Johnson, renowned for his series of large-scale kinetic works.  

Alongside the art, there will be live music, a progressive tasting menu and Central Otago wines. 

The art trail will be open from 11am-4pm on Saturday, October 25.

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