Royal Far West’s seventh Ride for Country Kids was a huge success for kids needing support in rural and remote communities, surpassing its fundraising goal by around $85,000.

A total of 79 riders cycled from Dubbo to Cobar, via Narromine, Warren and Nyngan, on a three-day, 400km fundraising adventure.

Royal Far West’s Executive Director for Business, People and Culture Jacqui Emery said in the aftermath of drought, floods, bushfire and the pandemic, there has never before been a more important time to raise money.

“The need is great and growing - the fundraising target for the Ride was $450,000, so we were thrilled to reach $535,000," Ms Emery said.

“All of this money will go towards our Paediatric Developmental Program (PDP), which is an assessment and diagnosis service for country kids where families visit Royal Far West in Manly for a week at a time to receive the healthcare they need."

According to Ms Emery, Royal Far West has 156 children from rural and remote NSW waiting to access the PDP, which is designed for children with complex developmental and mental health challenges, and the $535,000 raised will make a big difference in getting those kids into the program.

At the completion of Ride for Country Kids 2021, Tour de France champion Mark Renshaw spoke to the crowd and said it was an honour to be one of the event's Ride Ambassadors.

The boys from Narromine Clontarf Academy with Ride Ambassadors Mark Renshaw (centre) and Daniel Gibson

“I really enjoyed cycling and supporting the riders as they spent hours on their bikes, impressively clocking up hundreds of kilometres to fundraise for country kids," Mr Renshaw said.

“The energy in the group was amazing, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it all. It was great to see all the school kids and locals come up to us along the ride. Many spoke of how Royal Far West had helped them or their kids over the years, and it was heart-warming to hear their stories”.

Royal Far West’s CEO Lindsay Cane AM said she was thrilled with the fundraising results, thanking all the cyclists, ride sponsors and ambassadors.

“Each cyclist must fundraise to join the Ride, and we are so grateful to every person who has generously dipped into their pockets to sponsor a rider or a team,” Ms Cane said.

Ms Cane also thanked the local councils and businesses, community members, teachers, media, parents and families for their ongoing support, saying planning was already underway for the Ride for Country Kids 2022.