PRESS RELEASE

7/04/15

Bikers ride out against domestic violence

Every 6 minutes the New Zealand Police answer a domestic abuse callout. Every 5 weeks, a New Zealand child is killed by a family member.

Ride Against Child Violence, a motorcycle procession for a cause, will zoom across Auckland’s northern and southern motorways on Sunday 12 April at 12 noon to raise awareness about the effects of domestic violence on children and raise funds for charity Shine.

“No gang patches please” is the code that rules this friendly charity ride which is expected to bring together up to 150 cause-orientated bikers based on the previous years’ turnout. All the money raised from this event, including the entry fee of $5 per person, will be donated towards KIDshine, a specialist service for children who have been traumatised from witnessing violence in their home.

The ride will begin at the North Harbour Stadium on the North Shore where the participants will assemble. At noon, the bikers will ride in convoy over Harbour Bridge down State Highway 1 towards Murphy’s Law Bar in Drury, where they will have lunch and participate in a charity auction. From Drury at around 2pm, the bikers will head off to Cowboys Bar at the Viaduct in Auckland’s CBD where they will celebrate the completion of their more than 90-km journey. Cowboys Bar is once again the sponsor for the ride which is being organised for the fourth time by anti-violence campaigner and veteran biker Grant Brett.

“I have always been against any type of violence, whether in the home or anywhere, and have been fortunate enough to have never had to see it within my family over the years”, says Grant who first launched the Ride Against Violence in 2008 as a project for his Landmark Education course. The huge success of the project and the thrill of organising a large number of bikes to ride together along the motorway motivated him to do a second and third ride while trialling different formats.

It has taken Grant a few years to get around to the next ride because of personal and health reasons within the family. But he was quick to say, “When I decided to take on this ride, there was no hesitation that Shine would be the charity”.

Interested riders may contact Grant at gbrett@xtra.co.nz

ENDS

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