Once again it has been a while since I've been able to spend some time on doing any posting, let alone any form of writing or progressing some of the projects I've wanted to move forward with. A series of unexpected events in my adult life has been pretty much all consuming over the last few weeks. But those activities aren't going to go away any time soon and I'm not one to hide behind excuses for not getting something done. So a few weeks ago I asked Kerry to progress our latest project - a fund raising activity for a worthy charity.
Some of you may remember our last fund raising project for Friends With Dignity, an organisation that helps people and families impacted by domestic violence. That particular activity ended up being far more successful than I had anticipated, due in a large part to the generosity of the local mountain bike community. Since that time, I've meant to do it again, but better - and it's taken me over two years to move forward with the next one.
This year, the organisation we've chosen to help is Baby Give Back. Their focus is 'to give children a safe start to life by providing essential items to families in crisis', ensuring 'every child has an equal start to life.' Just about everyone is aware of how challenging things are for many people. The rental crisis resulting in a shortage of affordable rental accommodation combined with sky rocketing inflation causing the prices of essential items to increase significantly can put a significant strain on couples who are juggling caring for babies and young children with work to make ends meet. But rather than me telling you more about Baby Give Back, it's probably best that you hear it from Carly Fradgley, their CEO in the video below.
As parents who have found ourselves in a position of unexpectedly struggling to put food on the table, Kerry and I can really appreciate the work that Carly and the team at Baby Give Back are doing. And as we approach Christmas, it really can be challenging for young families who are trying to do the best for their children.
To help Baby Give Back, as before we're doing the charity guided trail ride tour thing. But this time, instead of a guided tour, we're aiming to do several based on the donations raised. The targets and the tours that we will do if we hit those goals are:
$250 - a guided tour of the glorious trails in the Currumbin Border Trails, approximately 10 to 12 km in length.
$500 - a guided tour of some of the leisurely (and perhaps not so leisurely) trails at Mt Cotton, totalling around 17 - 20km of riding.
$750 - a guided tour of some of the trails at Brisbane's Daisy Hill, including two of the new trails that have recently opened for a 20+ km ride.
$1,000 - a guided tour of the legendary and challenging Lost World trail at the Nerang MTB park, totalling a distance of somewhere between 20 - 25km depending on the route.
$1,500 - a guided tour at the Spicers Hidden Vale Adventure Park, a ride that will be 50km or so long and include getting to and from 500 Above, South East QLD's longest descent (you may want an e-bike for that one!).
On top of that, Kerry came up with the bright idea of roping my awesome photography skills in as well, with an 8 x 10 print of you doing something radical during the ride available for $25, proceeds obviously also going to Baby Give Back.
If you'd like to see these rides happen, or if you're just a generally awesome person willing to help the less fortunate you can use this link to donate to this fund raising activity cause: https://baby-give-back-fundraising.raisely.com/balancemtb
We'll be firming dates for these rides as we get closer to the donations raised goal for each ride (that and with the weather somewhat unpredictable at the moment it's best not to plan too far in advance). We're actually pretty close to the first target for the ride at the Currumbin Border Trails so we'll probably aim to hold that one on the 12th of November - stay tuned for details of that ride.
Incidentally, Baby Give Back aren't just looking for monetary donations, but also really appreciate anything that the babies and young children of a families need. Some of the items they actually need on a daily basis include:
Nappies
Baby wipes
Toiletries for adults
Toiletries for children
Breast pads
Maternity pads
Dummies
Facewashers
Wraps/Blankets
But obviously there are many more things that you may not need anymore that could help out a young family in need. If you happen to be in the Gold Coast or Brisbane area, you can deliver them straight to their warehouses where they're open from 9am until 4pm Monday to Friday:
Gold Coast: 10/15 John Duncan Court, Varsity Lakes, QLD 4227
Brisbane: 2/97 Jijaws Street, Sumner, QLD 4074
Hopefully some of you reading this will able to help, as well as join on some of the rides. Both Kerry and I would ask that you spread the word out to others who would be interested in helping support young families in need.
And if there's a specific ride you want to do, let us know - if we can manage it we'll incorporate it into the activity list.