Ride 4 Rotary
Ride4Rotary Illawarra was the brainchild of 2 Illawarra Rotarians in late 2013.
The concept of a cycling event to raise finds for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth was born with the first R4R Illawarra taking place on 2014 raising $4,000 and featuring 25 riders.
Operating as the Combined Rotary Clubs of the Illawarra and featuring 6 of the 9 local Rotary Clubs, the organisers created a committee and selected local charity, Southern Youth and Family Services (SYFS) as a benficiary of funds raised.
5 years later, after 6 consecutive annual events, a total of $93,000 has been raised for SYFS and in 2019 an agreement was formalised linking Rotary Illawarra and SYFS in partnership to this event exclusively.
The highest event fund total was $22,000 in both 2018 and 2019 with the 2020 event regrettably cancelled due to COVID-19.
La Nina stopped our live ride at the velodrome this year but we still raised over $57,000 for Youth at Risk with our parallel virtual ride.
Well Done and Thanks to everyone who supported our event.
Southern Youth & Family Services
Southern Youth and Family Services (SYFS) is a local Not-for-Profit that has the main purpose of supporting and caring for vulnerable and homeless young people (up to twenty four years of age) or those at risk of disadvantage and homelessness. SYFS also supports the families of these young people which may include parents, grand parents, siblings, other extended family members and even foster families.
What we do?
This work provides Supported Accommodation, Community Social Housing, Health and Outreach Services, Out of Home Care Services, Family Services including counselling, parenting programs and early intervention, and Education, Employment and Training programs.
Last year, across 47 different services SYFS provided Supported Accommodation, Community Social Housing, Health and Outreach Services, Out of Home Care Services and Family Services including Counselling, Parenting Programs, Early Intervention, and Education, Employment and Training programs.
SYFS operated 47 different services through 20 different funding programs in 2020-21, assisting 22,539 families and young people.
