It's a familiar sight in the suburbs of our cities - lycra-clad men surrounding coffee shops after their Sunday morning bike ride.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Thanks to Melbourne's Gravity Espresso, the 33 riders saddling up for RideWest, the biennial 1311km charity bike ride raising funds for Royal Flying Doctor Service rural mental health programs will be able to replicate that experience deep in the heart of rural Queensland.
The coffee company's marketing director Susan Castle will be following the ride from Brisbane to Longreach behind the support crew, serving coffee to cyclists at designated stops and accommodation pit stops.
At the same time, she'll be helping raise awareness for the RFDS Wellbeing Out West program in the towns to be visited along the route.
The overall aim of the ride taking place between April 22-29 will be to raise $500,000 for regional Queenslanders requiring mental health support.
RELATED: RideWest rides above the pandemic
It's the seventh ride undertaken with the same purpose and RideWest director John Sloman said each time they'd been blown away by the support and funds that they'd been able to raise.
The figure peaked on the delayed 2020 ride at $400,000 but this year they want to try and better that.
"We know these funds are so vital in providing resources for the RFDS to get mental health programs out to regional areas," Mr Sloman said.
In 2021 the Wellbeing Out West program helped the RFDS (Queensland Section) provide mental health support to more than 7500 people across western Queensland via free education sessions and counselling and support services.
The RFDS manager of Central West and Outback Mental Health Tim Driscoll said they wanted to save lives through early intervention.
"Get the word out. Make it normal. Make it accessible. Make it quality," he said.
Natalie Newell is the principal at the Augathella State School and said she and her husband and three children were unfortunately all too aware of the limited access to mental health services faced by people in rural communities.
The first-time RideWest participant said that as a family, they had relied on the RFDS for emergency care and knew how instrumental it was in also providing wellbeing services to people in rural areas.
"Additionally, in my role as a small school principal I have seen how the recent drought and the lack of wellbeing services are now impacting our young people growing up in small regional communities," she said. "This ride is not only about raising funding for mental health support but raising awareness too. We need to make the conversation normal, it's ok, to not be ok."
Gravity Espresso will be facilitating conversations and engaging with locals at accommodation stops including the Central Motor Inn at Chinchilla, Explorers Inn in Roma, Mitchell Motel in Mitchell, and the Augathella Palms in Augathella.
On day four, it will be serving up coffee and hosting the entire cycling team at the Great Artesian Spa at Mitchell.
READ MORE:
Want daily news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Queensland Country Life newsletter below.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
