The Outback Heritage Ride is set to be the largest Ride for Country Kids event yet, as we celebrates 100 years of Royal Far West.
Cyclists will embark on a three-day ride across regional NSW, raising funds and awareness for vital developmental and mental health services, to help improve the health and wellbeing of Australia’s country children.
This year’s route will take riders on an outback heritage journey through far west NSW, visiting key locations significant to both Royal Far West’s history and future. The Ride will start in Bourke, one of the homes to our first innovative Travelling and Aerial Baby Clinic. From there, it will journey to our founder Reverend Stanley Drummond’s hometown of Cobar, continue to Nyngan – a town in our heartlands that we have and continue to support – and will finish in Narromine, where we piloted our first Telehealth program.
“We’re so excited to be bringing the Ride back to our roots, with the route journeying through Royal Far West’s heartlands in communities that have and continue to play such a significant role in our 100-year history,” says Jacqueline Emery, Royal Far West CEO.
“Each year we take riders out into the communities that Royal Far West supports, they speak with families, visit schools and get to understand first-hand the impact that our services have. They are also getting to see the direct impact of their fundraising,” she continued.
Every Australian child deserves the right to access quality health, education and development services, but sadly country children and families face often face disadvantages due to distance and a lack of available services. Currently, children in these areas are waiting up to six years to see a paediatrician or being told there are no services at all. This coupled with compounding natural disasters such as bushfires and floods has seen the number of country kids in need of developmental and mental health services drastically increase.
“We know a child is twice as likely to be developmentally vulnerable if they grow up in a rural area. At Royal Far West we believe that all children deserve access to the support services they need. If you can identify and address developmental and mental health concerns early, then we have a much better chance of addressing them and that improves a child’s life trajectory,” says Ms Emery.
In 2025 Ride for Country Kids aims to raise $750,000 to connect Australia’s country kids with the critical developmental assessments, services and support they need to thrive. Since its inception eleven years ago, Ride for Country Kids has raised over $3.9M for kids and their families.
Join the adventure of a lifetime and ride for country kids in 2025!
Royal Far West invites cyclists of all levels to join the Ride for Country Kids