Scooter News  ADVERTISEMENT  Ride For Autism To raise the profile of Autism and raise money for charity a group of dedicated individuals are setting off from Wollongong to Cairns and back again in the month of March.
Jenny Newbold Over the next month Scootersales.com.au will be running updates on the progress of the riders. Follow the team as they raise money to raise the profile of Autism in Australia.
See latest updates here
The Ride for Autism is a charitable event organised in a bid to raise money for the much misunderstood condition, Autism.
Chris, Kirk and Paul Smith from Wollongong will ride three ARQIN sprint 125 cc scooters from Wollongong to Cairns and back again in March 2008.
Motivated by their own experiences with autism (Chris who has two children with Autism, others have relatives and friends with autistic children) their ambitious plan is to raise funds to increase the facilities and places at Autistic Base Schools to reduce the over extended waiting lists.
The South Coast School for Children with Autism will be their first project. This is the only facility in the Illawarra to provide specialised education for children with autism whilst also providing support to the families. The facility has minimal places resulting in very long waiting lists. The aim is to double the size of the school by building new classrooms and other facilities.
With the growing diagnosis rate of children with Autism (it effects 1 in 160 people in Australia), many families are placed on Autistic school’s ever increasing waiting lists or are forced to look elsewhere missing out on much needed specialised education. The main goal of The Ride for Autism is to raise funds to build as many new classrooms or new schools as possible through out NSW and Australia to reduce these waiting lists and the stress being on this waiting list causes parents.
The Ride for Autism will see the guys ride over 5000km on ARQIN Sprint 125 cc motor scooters from Wollongong to Cairns and back over a three week period in March 2008, incorporating 22 pit stops in towns along the way. In addition there will be Special events including Family Fun and Rock Concert Carnival 29th March 2008 in Wollongong at Lang Park, and a Charity Black Tie Dinner and Auction at the Wollongong Novotel on the 4th April 2008.
The team also has in the planning stage Annual Charity Race Days at Kembla Grange Race Course and Golf Days. A tremendous amount of planning has gone into this event already and the guys have done a great job in securing sponsorship, assistance from local councils, businesses and other community groups in supporting the event and/or contributing funds.
Key sponsors of the event are:
• ANZ Bank
• Arqin Motorcycles who have donated over $13,000 worth of Motor Scooters
• South Coast Motorcycles who are registering the vehicles and assisting with promotions.
• Darrell Lea
• Embroiderme Wollongong
• Kwik Kopy Wollongong
• Neo-Trac – Satelite tracking recovery system
• Laro Leathers for the 4 Leather Jackets
• Zuma Power Products – 4 CMS Scooter Helmets
• BlueScope Steel are also a key sponsor and apart from donating $5000 to the cause, have established the ability for employees to contribute to the fundraising through direct debit from their pay.
• Big4 Holiday Parks for Accommodation at the varies Towns that we are stopping at.
• Loins Clubs who are providing the Lunch time BBQ and much more
• Caltex Petrol Stations Wollongong
• Coastwide Plumbing Wollongong
• Car-O-Liner
• Zoomera
• St Johns Ambulance for our travelling First Aid Officer and medical equipment
You can make donations online at The Ride for Autism site www.therideforautism.org
The Ride for Autism is a registered charity so donations are tax deductible.
For more information contact Jenny Newbold on 0422200252 or email chrisnewbold1@optusnet.com.au
published 27/02/2008 |