Dunsborough family to ride for charity

A Dunsborough family is preparing to head to the Kimberly to ride in a 700km charity event.

Craig, Carmen and Deni Atkinson will be riding in a six-person relay team for the Gibb River Challenge next month.

The family have decided to ride again after Carmen and Deni rode in the event last year.

“We ride from Derby to El Questro Wilderness Park over five days,” Mrs Atkinson said.

“It’s just amazing and one of the best and most life-changing things I’ve ever done.”

The family will be raising money for two charities, Sirens of Silence and the Kyle Andrews Foundation.

Sirens of Silence aims at providing support to emergency service personnel while the Kyle Andrews Foundation takes children undergoing treatment for leukaemia at Princess Margaret Hospital to Broome for a holiday.

In 2014, when Deni was undergoing treatment for a brain tumour, she went on a camp with the Kyle Andrews Foundation.

“You meet other kids who have gone through the same thing and everyone became a lot more confident because we weren’t with out parents,” she said.

The family will be holding a fundraiser at Lot 80 in Eagle Bay next weekend, with pizza and paella, and live music from a range of acts.

Mrs Atkinson said the event aims at bringing the community together.

“We want to give thanks to our emergency guys because what they do is amazing,” she said.

“The community really helped us when Deni was sick and we really want to make it a community event.”

The fundraiser for the triple zero heroes will be on next Saturday, April 23 from 5pm at Lot 80.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased from www.trybooking.com/KONL or from Fat Duck Cycles and Seachange News agency.