MELBOURNE man Lachlan Preston will go a long way to achieve a coveted Baden Powell Award – 1040 kilometres to be exact. The award – the highest accolade a Scout can achieve – is reached by completing four challenges and can take years to finish. Mr Preston is halfway through completing his first challenge, the Rambles challenge, riding from Sydney to Melbourne in 11 days. He has roped three of his mates into joining him on the 1040km trip and the group is doubling it up as a fundraiser for charity organisation Bicycles for Humanity. Bicycles for Humanity is a not-for-profit organisation which collects old and disused bikes and ships them off to developing nations. The struggling communities use the bikes to improve basic mobility for access to healthcare and education. “(The ride) is for Rovers, but we thought once we got the idea up and going we would get Bicycles for Humanity on board,” Mr Preston said yesterday just after the group arrived in Wagga. “If we were riding that far we thought we may as well do something for charity as well. “At the time we were looking for a charity we saw (Bicycles for Humanity) on the 7.30 Report and we thought it was perfect. “They get a lot of bikes donated already so they were pretty keen for the monetary donations we could get.” The group has set a target of $5000 to be donated to Bicycles for Humanity by the end of the trip, and has already received $1099 for the campaign. Mr Preston says once the actual ride is out of the way he will turn his attention to raising money. The group took off from Cootamundra yesterday morning and arrived in Wagga at lunchtime to mark the halfway point of the journey. The riders left from Sydney on Saturday and plan to ride into Melbourne on Wednesday, when the four adventurers can finally put their feet up and recuperate. Mr Preston says everything appears to be on schedule and the riding has been enjoyable. Anyone wishing to add to the donation pile can do so by visiting www.everydayhero.com.au/sydney_to_melb_ramblers.
MELBOURNE man Lachlan Preston will go a long way to achieve a coveted Baden Powell Award – 1040 kilometres to be exact.
The award – the highest accolade a Scout can achieve – is reached by completing four challenges and can take years to finish.
Mr Preston is halfway through completing his first challenge, the Rambles challenge, riding from Sydney to Melbourne in 11 days.
He has roped three of his mates into joining him on the 1040km trip and the group is doubling it up as a fundraiser for charity organisation Bicycles for Humanity.
Bicycles for Humanity is a not-for-profit organisation which collects old and disused bikes and ships them off to developing nations.
The struggling communities use the bikes to improve basic mobility for access to healthcare and education.
“(The ride) is for Rovers, but we thought once we got the idea up and going we would get Bicycles for Humanity on board,” Mr Preston said yesterday just after the group arrived in Wagga.
“If we were riding that far we thought we may as well do something for charity as well.
“At the time we were looking for a charity we saw (Bicycles for Humanity) on the 7.30 Report and we thought it was perfect.
The group has set a target of $5000 to be donated to Bicycles for Humanity by the end of the trip, and has already received $1099 for the campaign.
Mr Preston says once the actual ride is out of the way he will turn his attention to raising money.
The group took off from Cootamundra yesterday morning and arrived in Wagga at lunchtime to mark the halfway point of the journey.
The riders left from Sydney on Saturday and plan to ride into Melbourne on Wednesday, when the four adventurers can finally put their feet up and recuperate.
Mr Preston says everything appears to be on schedule and the riding has been enjoyable.
Anyone wishing to add to the donation pile can do so by visiting www.everydayhero.com.au/sydney_to_melb_ramblers.