Bourke Black Dog rideraises over $13,000

Organisers of the inaugural Black Dog Ride Liz Kerr and Aaron Marsh. Photo TWH

inaugural Black Dog Ride raised both awareness and much needed funds for mental health and suicide prevention.

The driving forces behind the event were Aaron Marsh and Liz Kerr, both members of the riding club and Bourke residents.

Aaron told 2WEB that the idea for Bourke to have a Black Dog Ride started a few years back.

“I went on a ride with a few mates to Dubbo and then went on a longer ride to Western Australia with the Black Dog group, and when I came back, I was telling some of the other local riders about it and they suggested that we have our own ride, and then Liz went crazy with the idea,” Aaron said.

Liz said many local riders had done the Black Dog ride elsewhere and decided at a meeting they would organise one for Bourke.

“We all enjoyed the ride and when Aaron came back and said he wanted to do one locally we all agreed,” she said.

“There had been a suicide in the Bourke community, and quite a few of our older members were close friends with this particular gentleman. They felt that it would be a nice tribute and a way to raise awareness of suicide and depression in our community, because it’s something our community experiences too often.” […]

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