Royal Far West’s seventh Ride for Country Kids was a huge success for kids needing support in rural and remote communities. A total of 79 riders cycled from Dubbo to Cobar, via Narromine, Warren and Nyngan, on a three-day, 400km fundraising adventure.

Royal Far West’s Executive Director, Business People and Culture Jacqui Emery says, “Never has there been a more important time to raise money for country kids after drought, floods, bushfire and COVID.

“The need is great and growing. The fundraising target for the Ride was $450,000, so we were thrilled to reach $535,000.

“All of this money will go towards our Paediatric Developmental Program (PDP), which is an assessment and diagnosis service for country kids where families visit Royal Far West in Manly for a week at a time to receive the healthcare they need,” Jacqui said.

The children’s charity has 156 children from rural and remote NSW waiting to access the PDP, which is designed for children with complex developmental and mental health challenges, and the $535,000 raised will make a big difference in getting those kids into the program.

At the completion of Ride for Country Kids 2021, Tour de France champion Mark Renshaw said, “It was an honour to be Ride Ambassador and I really enjoyed cycling and supporting the riders as they spent hours on their bikes, impressively clocking up hundreds of kilometres to fundraise for country kids.

“The energy in the group was amazing, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it all. It was great to see all the school kids and locals come up to us along the ride. Many spoke of how Royal Far West had helped them or their kids over the years, and it was heart-warming to hear their stories”.

Royal Far West’s CEO Lindsay Cane AM says, “We are indebted to our partners FDC Construction & Fitout, PSC Australia, Prime7 and Essential Energy, and amazing Ambassadors Mark Renshaw, Prime7”s Daniel Gibson and our client dad Nathan Taylor, who all gave above and beyond to support our cause.

“Each cyclist must fundraise to join the Ride, and we are so grateful to every person who has generously dipped into their pockets to sponsor a rider or a team,” Lindsay explained.

Royal Far West also thanks the local Councils and businesses, community members, teachers, media, parents and families, all of whom were incredibly supportive and generous.

It is not too late to push those fundraising dollars for the kids. Please donate to the Ride.

Planning is already underway for Ride for Country Kids 2022. For more information or to become involved, please contact communications@royalfarwest.org.au