Ride for Youth cyclists stop off in Harvey in the final stretch of their quest to improve youth mental health

Rolling up the schoolyard strip, the procession of cyclists — cheered on by students — made one of their final stops on their phenomenal journey through the South West.

Riders from the Hawaiian Ride for Youth made their way into Harvey Senior High School to enjoy morning tea and spread the awareness for mental health on March 22.

More than 140 riders left Collie that morning and travelled more than 500km in a week to reach Harvey on their epic 700km ride from Albany to Perth.

The ride is organised by Youth Focus to raise awareness and money for youth mental health services.

First time rider Una Flynn was working as a child and adolescent counsellor when she found herself aligning with the goals of the ride.

She said youth mental health was everyone’s responsibility.

“The fact that death by suicide is still the number one killer of young people in this country is not OK,” she said.

“I want to help change that statistic.”

Ms Flynn said counselling could be cost prohibitive for people so she wanted to help make it easier for young people to access services.

“I think Youth Focus do an incredible job in providing free counselling for young people in our community,” she said.

To prepare for the ride, Ms Flynn said she did six months of intense training, starting most days at 4.30am.

Despite all the training she said she could never have made the journey without the support and community spirit of the riders she travelled with.

“I have been incredibly supported by all the riders,” she said.

After a tearful presentation looking at mental health, the students said goodbye to the cyclists before their final journey through to Perth.

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