Now that I have returned from my overseas travel and back into the real world again I now have a personal focus that I am working toward and I thought I would share this with you.
Many of you are unaware that I support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) who are searching for a cure for Type 1 diabetes. This year I will be participating again for the fourth year in their annual Ride to Cure Diabetes held in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.
I will be riding 80 klms through a challenging circuit with plenty of hills. I am back into riding to work and doing an extended ride on the weekend to prepare for the ride and especially those long grinding hills that I truly love!!
Last year I raised $4,000 and my aim this year is to match that effort, if not better it. In my 3 years of participation I have personally raised $11,500 and it’s something that I am very proud of.
To give you a perspective of the importance of this event to JDRF, the ride last year raised in excess of $1.04 million, whilst ringing the 8 year total to $6.74 million! I think it’s pretty amazing considering that only 300 riders are able to participate in the event
so you can appreciate the effort that everyone puts into this.
I have a nephew who is 24 and was diagnosed in 2010 with Type 1 diabetes and I am sure that many of you will be aware of someone who is impacted by this illness. The ride has allowed me to meet a range of people all sharing the same vision and importantly has educated me in the ongoing and long term effects of this illness.
You can go to http://ride.jdrf.org.au/teamParticipant.asp?participantID=132 to find out more about JDRF and the ride and also to follow my sponsorship progress. Obviously, any support is much appreciated.
I thought I would attach the picture as it does demonstrate that I am actually on the bike and not sipping a red in a winery, as some in the office have suggested!!
I remain determined to play my part in helping find a cure for over 122,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes who have to regularly inject 4-6 times per day as part of their “daily” life. It’s hard to comprehend the impact this would have on what we know as a
normal daily life.
I am grateful to Paradigm in supporting my efforts for JDRF.