Last Saturday 220 riders plus our awesome support crews completed an epic week for the Hawaiian Ride for Youth.

It was 700km of tough conditions so it was fantastic news when we arrived to hear that we had raised close to $3m in funds to support #youthmentalhealth . For me, this was my second ride. Last year, through the experience of visiting and speaking at schools, I learned a lot about being a better person, partner, father, leader and what is required to support our next generation.

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This year was different as COVID prevented us from visiting the schools, which somewhat left a void in our ability to communicate, educate and support the wellbeing and mental health of our next generation. What I learned though from this ride is that if there was a way to bottle and spread the spirit of the ride, the world would be a lot happier place. From a corporate perspective, there was so much to learn from riding with 45 other riders in a peloton, all with different stories, skills, and abilities. At the end of the day, we are all equal and the experience was by far better than any #leadership and #teamwork training I had done over my career. I felt learned a lot about #empathy , #gratitude , #vulnerability , equality, #happiness , emotion, teamwork, #respect, #grit , #resilience, #communication, listening, #connection.

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As we close out the ride and start to prepare for next year's ride, a special thanks to the riders, support crews, event organisers, corporate sponsors, and donors of the event. In particular, thanks to Team Oqea riders and support crew, who lived up to the spirit of the ride and values outlined above.

Special thank you to the Oqea ride team sponsors - Neometals Ltd, Vantage Wealth Management Pty Ltd, Fogarty Partners, LCI, Oqea, The Resilience Shield

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The Hawaiian Ride For Youth is a charity ride held annually over 4.5 days, with riders travelling from Albany to Perth over a total of more than 2,000 kms to raise funds and awareness for Youth Focus. While cycling through towns in WA’s South West, Great Southern and Wheatbelt the riders visit high schools to engage and inform students on issues of youth suicide, depression, anxiety and self-harm, as well as the services that Youth Focus provides.

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