Former AFL footballers Danny Frawley and Michael Roberts riding with Cops and Kids Camp ride.
FORMER AFL footballers Danny Frawley, Michael Roberts and Paul Tuddenham were led into Ararat in a police brawler van yesterday.
But don’t worry, they weren’t in trouble with the law, they were actually helping the boys in blue.
Frawley, his former St Kilda teammate Roberts and Collingwood great Tuddenham were driven into the township before taking part in one of the final legs of the inaugural Ride for the Kids event, which aims to raise $70,000 for Cops N Kids camp.
The former footballers joined forces with Victoria Police officers and staff from Woolworths supermarkets yesterday on the seventh of the eight-day, 800km ride to raise the funds to support kids with cancer through Cops N Kids. They rode from Ararat to Maryborough.
“Mick, Paul and I jumped at the chance to help kids and their families struggling through their time with cancer,” Frawley said yesterday.
“It is such a worthy cause and the camps for the kids give them an opportunity to take part in activities like helicopter rides, plane rides, police car rides.”
Starting in Ballarat on October 13 and finishing in Ballarat today, the cyclists made stops at Colac Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton, Horsham, Ararat and Maryborough.
The event is raising funds for Cops N Kids, a charity run by police officers which hosts annual camps for children with cancer and their siblings.
Woolworths Ballarat store manager Shane Darroch was inspired to organise the ride after the death of his mother, Pat Darroch, from cancer earlier this year.
“Mum was a great supporter of the Cops N Kids Camp,” Mr Darroch said. “I wanted to find some way to continue the work she did when she was alive, and that’s where the idea for the ride came from,” he said.
Mr Darroch said 16 Woolworth stores along the route welcomed the riders each day and acted as collection points for their local communities.
Sergeant David Collins said Victoria Police were delighted that Woolworths would throw its support behind Cops N Kids in such a way.
“It will be tough for our members, but they know that their discomfort is nothing compared to what the brave children who take part in camps experience. They are happy to be doing something that they know will give the kids a bit of break from the routine of treatment,” Sergeant Collins said.