Charity bike ride a success

OVER three weeks and two thousand kilometres later, La Trobe University lecturer Dr Brad Hodge completed his fundraising bike journey from Bendigo to Uluru last week.

Dr Hodge rode 2229 kilometres and raised $11,000, eclipsing his goal of $10,000, for his charity I Am Someone.

He said the organisation has already started using the money for important water projects in Uganda, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

“We’ve got one project that needs to sink a well so that they’ve got regular access to water and another that needs well repairs,” he said. “The other things we’re doing is putting in water tanks and guttering.

“Sometimes wells run dry so diversifying where the water comes from can make a real difference.”

Dr Hodge provided updates during the ride on Facebook and his website, with videos and even a live tracker available to his supporters.

He said once he made it to Uluru, there was a chance to reflect about how he had achieved both his objectives.

“One was to get there, and I was comfortable that I could achieve that, but the other was to raise money and doing both of those and having so many people engaged in listening to the story, watching my videos online and things like that is really rewarding.”

After a couple days of rest, it was straight back to work for Dr Hodge, however with regional Victoria coming out of lockdown he said he has enjoyed being able to catch up with his supporters and friends in some capacity.

He is already looking forward to his next fundraiser for I Am Someone, however it won’t involve him riding across the country.

“I love bike riding, I just wouldn’t necessarily do it as a fundraising trip because I’ve done that, I’m keen to do something new and raise 10 times the amount of money next time, going for $100,000,” he said.

“The importance of normal people like myself getting involved and raising money is just so huge for these organisations.

“Whether it’s I Am Someone or another organisation, the world is imbalanced and needs us to step up and do the things we enjoy but also make the world a better place.”