THERE are infinitely easier and quicker ways to get to Brisbane for a conference, but Armidale financial planner Matt Meehan is taking the long, slow, two-wheeled route.
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Mr Meehan, of Agbis Financial, has been in training for several months in preparation for the Future2 Wheel Classic, a nine-day 1100km-plus charity bike ride.
The bike ride leaves Manly on Tuesday, November 10, with the goal of reaching Brisbane by November 18 for the start of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) Professionals Congress.
“I’ve done quite a bit of training, but that’s no substitute for doing it nine days in a row at an average of 125km per day,” Mr Meehan said.
He was inspired to hop on his bike through an association with Armidale’s BackTrack organisation, for whichhe’d supported a grant application to Future2, the FPA’s charitable foundation.
“Initially, BackTrack received $10,000 as a one-off payment, but in the past three years they’ve received a further $30,000 from Future2,” Mr Meehan said.
“I had a meeting with them this week and discovered their biggest hurdle was getting the dollars flowing to help keep their programs running.
“They’ve just started working with teenage girls as well as boys, and would like to secure funds to enable a teacher to work separately with the girls and the boys for two days each week.
“The best outcome would be if they could secure more recurrent funding, because at this stage they have to apply year in, year out, and all the associated reporting that goes with that.”
Some of the BackTrack kids will hop on their bikes and ride with Mr Meehan and the 11 other financial planners as they cycle into Armidale.
A keen cyclist, but a novice at this event, Mr Meehan said the fact the ride was going through Armidale was a trigger for him to participate.
“I was keen to help raise awareness of the foundation and BackTrack,” he said.
“It’s a flow-on really, from supporting the initial grant and helping BackTrack continue to grow and build on their existing programs.”
Another Armidale organisation that’s been assisted by Future2 is Beyond Empathy, which uses the arts to influence change and enrich the lives of individuals and communities experiencing recurring hardship.
From humble beginnings, Beyond Empathy now works in urban and suburban, regional and remote communities across Australia and representatives from Beyond Empathy will also be on hand to wish the cyclists well as they ride through Armidale.
From their starting point in Manly, the 12 cyclists will head towards Maitland, Gloucester, Walcha, Armidale, Inverell, Texas, Warwick, Toowoomba and eventually, Brisbane.
If you’d like to help Mr Meehan on his fundraising quest, visit wheelclassic2015.everydayhero.com/ au/mattmeehan
