Community

Colin Gooding to push boundaries, change lives with rides for children in poverty  

Are you looking for a chance to push yourself outside your comfort zone, raise money for underprivileged children and unlock your full potential, all while experiencing the ultimate personal transformation? 

Yes? Well, you have until September 20, 2024, to sign up for the Digital Live Home Hug and Coastal Rides, which raises money for children’s charity Hands Across The Water (HATW). 

The rides will be the sixth and seventh rides the real estate industry has supported, raising almost $2 million for HATW, a charity that is dedicated to protecting, providing shelter and education for disadvantaged children in Thailand. 

Many have lost their parents, cannot be cared for by family or have HIV and need support to live with the virus. 

The money raised gives the children the opportunity to go to school and education helps break the cycle of poverty, giving the children a purpose and choice in life. 

“The bike ride is an incredibly impactful way for the real estate industry to get together and support a phenomenal cause,” Real Estate Institute of Australia President, and Laing+Simmons CEO, Leanne Pilkington, said. 

Digital Live CEO, and ride organiser, Steve Carroll, said the Home Hug Ride would see participants ride 500km across some of Thailand’s most scenic countryside, with an optional two-day, 200km ‘Celebration Ride’ to mark 20 years since the Boxing Day Tsunami. 

It was the Tsunami that saw HATW Founder, Peter Baines, sent to Thailand in his then role as an Australian forensic police officer, to work as part of the disaster victim identification team after the tragedy. 

As a result of that work Peter, and his wife Claire, established HATW in 2005. 

Mr Carroll said the Home Hug ride would start on February 23, 2025, while the Coastal ride, which is also 500km over five days, would set out on March 9, 2025. 

He said it was important to note that participants don’t need to be hardcore cyclists to do the ride, and more than 40 per cent of riders, so far, were women. 

“It’s for ordinary people from the real estate industry, who want to do something out of their comfort zone for themselves and for others,” Mr Carroll said. 

“The most common feedback I have from riders is the value they took from the ride is far greater than what they put into it.” 

First National Real Estate Latrobe Director, Colin Gooding, will ride for the second time in 2025. “For my mental health, it’s one of the most significant things I have ever done,” he said. 

And if that’s not enough to convince you to sign up, then note that the incredible speaker, presenter and former TV producer, Maz Farrelly, has signed up to do the ride for a second time in 2025. 

Of the ride she did in 2023, she said, “I thought I’d enjoy the ride, see a bit of Thailand, eat some decent food and meet some decent people, but yowzer! 

“I simply had no idea how much I’d love it, and for how many reasons why.

“I suspect it will change your life. You’ll meet friends for life, and have an ass like iron. “Win. Win. Win. Do it!” 

For more information and to sign up for Hands Across the Water experiences click here.

You can also contact Steve Carroll on 0457 763 820.

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