Laverton Cycling Project Update April 2024

The April Update from our Laverton Cycling Project Coordinator: Sabine Bird!

“School’s back > We are back!

1 – We did bike riding sessions in Mulga Queen, Cosmo Newbery, and 2x in Laverton;

2 – we spent a whole morning with the kids at School,

3 – I stayed with them at the youth center every evening for some fun activities.”

Day 1 – Mulga Queen

On the 1st day back at School, we had a group of 6 kids in this tiny Aboriginal community 170 km further North of Laverton. The kids’ excitement to see us again was superb, and we engaged them in bike riding activities straight away: skills, a little bit of racing, and a bush exploration were on the program for the following hours.

For our learnings, we touched on topics of Sportsmanship and absorbing the environment around them by ensuring they see as much as possible on their ride and talk about it afterward or draw pictures. The most significant find of the day was a bush banana, aka ‘Gagurla’!

Day 2 – Laverton

School “duties” saw us in the classroom for the 2nd month in a row now. This time, we mainly assisted the teachers with their program instead of running classes, which helped with ongoing exposure and interactions with the kids. In the afternoon, we went bike riding: 21 youths of all ages, it was “herding cats” time! Fruits, dinner, and youth activities at the center afterward concluded a big day out with the young ones.

Day 3 – Cosmo Newbery + Laverton

The little rascals of Cosmo Newbery were so excited to see us! Most of them remembered us from last time and remembered the bike safety rules we practiced. Today, we did a lot more riding and skills, and the kids fully embraced it.

Back in Laverton, we went for a long ride to the bush and back. We had some tired legs afterward, but everyone persevered nicely. Plenty of fruits afterward brought the energy back in no time for some indoor games.

A great trip to the Goldfields yet again!

From the CDF:

It should be noted here the tireless work of Sabine in coordinating and operating this program. Additionally without the support in fundraising, largely achieved through the Regis Resources Perth to Laverton Cycling Classic, this program would simply not be able to run into the 2024 calendar year.

This year we have been able to work alongside various remote communities to see our program grow to other townsites after 7 years of operations. Not only this but to be able to work alongside the Laverton school means we now have a broader approach to education and development. It is a great example of how a small community can come together to achieve extraordinary outcomes as far as our developmental programs are concerned.