The Snowy Mountains region was buzzing with plenty of activity over the weekend for the Honda Snowy Ride 2017 with 2094 riders and pillions taking part in the ride and contributing to the total fundraising figure of more than $200,000.
“Despite a cold and wet Friday on the eve of Snowy Ride, the mountains turned on a glorious clear day for the 17th Snowy Ride,” said Sue Walter, Chief Executive Officer of Steven Walter Children’s Cancer Foundation.
“We offer heartfelt thanks to the people of the Snowy Mountains region, our sponsors, volunteers and everyone who entered the Snowy Ride. Together we are working towards a future free from childhood cancer.
“Honda Motorcycles Australia has donated over 40 motorcycles to SWCCF which have been given away as prizes at the Snowy Ride and our annual Fireblade raffle.
“More than 100 people volunteer their time to help make the Snowy Ride happen each year, with things like set up, checkpoints, merchandise, raffle tickets and more. We had entries all the way from Hong Kong and Germany, as well as all states of Australia – even WA and NT!,” she said.
The Honda Snowy Ride has been held on the first Saturday in November each year since 2001 by SWCCF with motorcyclists spending a day riding the picturesque Alpine roads and raising money to fund research into a cure for childhood cancer.
Five families with a child going through cancer treatment participated in the Snowy Hydro Family Program, which gives them a much needed opportunity to reconnect as a family and enjoy time away from hospital and cancer treatment. Over the past 17 years more than 100 families have participated in the Snowy Hydro Family Program.
At the Ambassador’s Dinner on Friday 3 November, Stuart Diver, Resort Operations Manager at Kosciusko Thredbo, childhood cancer survivor Darren Skuse and Paediatric oncologist Dr Toby Trahair spoke about the challenges they have faced and overcome in their lives and how they stay motivated and positive.
A huge mass ride helped finish off the ride with the Snowy Hydro Family Program kids the guests of honour riding with the members of the Australian Goldwing Association. Plenty of riders added some fun and colour with dress ups.
Snowy Ride presentation was hosted by Steven Walter Children’s Cancer Foundation Ambassadors Simon Bouda from Channel 9 and Darren Skuse. Dr Joe Collins, Chairman of the Steven Walter Children’s Cancer Foundation Board announced that going forward SWCCF will be exclusively funding clinical research at the Steven Walter Laboratory at the Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney, under the stewardship of Professor Glenn Marshall.
Guest speaker, Dr Toby Trahair, the Senior Staff Specialist in Paediatric Haematology/Oncology at the Kids Cancer Centre in Sydney, gave the crowd insight into the work he does with Prof Marshall, and the importance of ongoing commitment to long term research goals.
Stuart Diver welcomed the Snowy Ride family to Thredbo and presented a cheque for $10,000 to SWCCF. Gabrielle Curtin, Executive Officer, Safety People and Services at Snowy Hydro, spent the weekend with the Snowy Hydro Family Program and also presented a cheque for $100,000
One of the Family Program participants, Jon Brookes, spoke about his daughter Sarah’s cancer treatment and also presented a cheque for $10,000 on behalf of his family.
A fantastic group of Snowy Riders who dressed up as the Smurfs presented a cheque for $13,790 after spending the past 12 months fundraising.
A spectacular fireworks over the mountains finished off the day thanks to Thredbo and were enjoyed by all.
“We work closely with the NSW Police in the lead up to the Snowy Ride, and throughout the weekend and thank the local officers for assisting with maintaining safe speeds across the weekend,” said Sue.
“Whilst a small number of riders were involved in speeding incidents, we thank the vast majority of motorcyclists who rode within their limits and with the road and weather conditions in mind. It’s our priority that everyone in the Snowy Ride family gets home safely after spending the weekend raising much needed funding for research into a cure for childhood cancer,” she said.
Other highlights of the event included free test rides on Honda’s fleet of motorcycles for licensed motorcyclists, a mass ride into Thredbo with participants dressing up for the occasion and plenty of great entertainment.
“We hosted five families this year and they’ve had a ball with helicopter rides courtesy of the Royal Australian Navy, motorcycle rides thanks to the Australian Goldwing Association and plenty of other great activities. The families are cared for by a dedicated group of volunteers and the program is generously sponsored by Snowy Hydro.
“We know that almost 1000 children are newly diagnosed with cancer each year in Australia and that for every 10 children diagnosed with cancer, three do not survive. Its statistics like these that keep driving us to raise as much money as we can to support research into a cure,” Sue said.
Snowy Ride 2018 stats
- Snowy Ride 2018 is on Saturday 3 November
- More than $200,000 was raised for research into a cure for childhood cancer
- Winner and runner up were both from NSW
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- Winner – now owns a Honda Africa Twin with ticket number 1253
- Runner up – now owns a Honda CMX500 with ticket number 0887
Hey, it was a terrific weekend again – my 8th SR – but we could not work out why numbers seem to be heading down year on year – are you connecting with the younger clubs such as the Sydney Cafe Racers or classic bike groups? There is plenty of passion for riding and fundraising there and the trip is hardly a trek out of Sydney – or Melbourne or Canberra – for most. We were a group of 18 riders and had – another – incident free 2500km trip!