Scootaville is a charity ride that tours outback NSW and QLD to support two wonderful charities, Legacy which cares for the families of hurt or missing veterans and The Air Force Association which cares for homeless veterans.
The annual event started as ‘Scootabor’, a ride on 50cc bikes across the Nullabor in 2014, organised by Jake Jacobsen.
Now it has grown into an initiative run by the Radschool Association. Last year, 31 men and women set out from Boonah and headed off on an 18-day journey through Dalby, Roma, Charleville, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Cloncurry, Richmond, Hughenden, Charters Towers and finished in Townsville.
The group managed to raise $30,200 from their efforts while on the back of 110cc Honda and Suzuki scooters and a 160cc Kymco.
The men and women will first scoot across outback QLD in August, before they do the same in NSW in November. The group will travel through Windsor, Singleton, Mudgee, Dubbo, Parkes, Wagga, Canberra, Bathurst and back to Windsor.
Radschool Association Secretary and Treasurer, Trevor Benneworth said it’s a wonderful event.
“Apart from raising funds for Legacy, the event provides an opportunity for the men and women taking part to form new friendships and meet some wonderful people along the way, see and enjoy some outback hospitality in a friendly and social atmosphere, and to mix with their peers and discuss any troubles they might have.
“A friend of mine started it in 2014 and I thought it was a great idea.
“We must thank the Australian Defence Force, they help us out with accommodation, vehicles, help us at all of our pitstops.”
Veterans who have taken part before can’t speak highly enough about it. They love the comradery they find during the ride, something they had in abundance while they were with the Army, or the Navy or the Air Force.
Councils along the route open up their showgrounds for the participants to spend their nights and a lot of Lions Clubs along the way also help out with food and welcome the crew into each of the towns.
“The idea is to get as many people together as we can at events that we hold nearly every night along the ride. We encourage people to come along and of course donate to the cause,” said Trevor.
Nearly two dozen veterans have already signed up for the NSW adventure including several scooters from the Air Force, Army and the Navy and a couple of Civvy’s as well.
“If anyone who has a motorbike license, male or female, would like to come along and have a great time for a couple of weeks, please join us!”
| To donate to Scootaville head to radschool.org.au and click the donate button, with all donations tax deductible. You can still register to participate in either the NSW or QLD events, you’ll have to be quick to get your details in for QLD but to do so head to: https://www.radschool.org.au/scootaville/ |
