NINETY year old Keith Hendry stopped into Glen Innes last week on his mission to raise funds for Royal Society for the Blind.
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Mr Hendry will visit 90 towns and hopes to raise $90, 000 on his travels around Australia from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Western Australia’s city of Bunbury.
Riding around Glen Innes in his mobility scooter and stopping along the way to chat, Mr Hendry said people have been good to him and are happy to donate to his cause and hear tales of the his Grandfather Andrew Hendry, the founder of the Royal Society for the Blind.
"I never knew my Grandfather but he was a fascinating fellow by all accounts so I've decided to take a trip across the country,” he said.
“I am 90 years of age, so I’ll be stopping at 90 towns, speaking at schools and to the man on the street to try and get my grandfather his rightful place in Australian history and raise a little money for the Royal Society for the Blind at the same time."
Mr Hendry has many tales to tell of his grandfather but is most proud of his work for the blind.
“He taught himself to read braille and set out to become an itinerant teacher of the blind,’ he said.
“In 1884, at the age of 24, Andrew Hendry founded the Royal Institute for the Blind in Adelaide with the assistance of Sir Charles Goode, a wealthy merchant and politician.
“To this day, the society's goal is to assist Australians who are blind or vision-impaired achieve the quality of life to which they aspire.”
Mr Hendry said he will be getting around town raising funds on a specially donated mobility scooter, supplied by Walk on Wheels.
"They want it back unfortunately, but we've decorated it with stickers and banners so people will know what I'm all about," he said.
"We've raised nearly $8,000 and the Royal Society for the Blind said $20,000 would be amazing, but I'm going to try and raise them $90,000.
"This journey is for my grandfather, if we raise the money that's a bonus but the aim is recognition for Andrew Whyte Hendry."
You can donate to the Royal Society for the Blind online at https://challengeforcharlie.everydayhero.com/au/keith-hendry