In March 2020, Team Citadel-MAGNUS will once again tackle the gruelling 700km Hawaiian Ride For Youth to help de-stigmatise the topic of mental health, support the critical services of Youth Focus and build resilience in future generations of Australians.

More than eight Australians take their own life every day; a shocking statistic. That’s almost 3000 lives lost across the country with each turn around the sun. Furthermore, one or more Australians under the age of 25 take their life each day, which is terribly sad and an incredible loss for our nation.

Suicide remains the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15-44 and for children aged 5-17.

This is simply not good enough and is a key reason why Citadel-MAGNUS is a strong supporter of Youth Focus and has sponsored a Ride for Youth team for the past six years.

Youth Focus is a truly magnificent organisation that supports young people and their families by offering a range of free and unlimited expert mental health services to help “at risk” 12-25 year olds.

The Citadel-MAGNUS team for the 2020 Ride For Youth will be captained by Winston Capital managing director Andrew Fairweather. He is being supported by Citadel-MAGNUS partner Michael Weir, Michael’s 20-year-old son Joel, King & Wood Mallesons Partner Nigel Hunt, professional director and consultant Michael Barrett and Alder Tapware WA commercial and sales manager Callum Coats.

Over 4.5 days, from March 24 2020,  around 170 cyclists will take part in the Ride For Youth, riding 700km in four pelotons from Albany or Jurien Bay to Perth, through the South West, Great Southern, Wheatbelt or Mid-West, stopping at schools along the way to engage with students on issues of youth suicide, depression, anxiety and self-harm.

Team Citadel-MAGNUS will be part of the Coastal peloton, travelling from Albany through Denmark, Walpole, Pemberton, Busselton and Mandurah, and on to Perth.

The Riders are two-thirds of the way through the six-month training program to be fit and ready for the Ride, heading out at 5.30am every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and covering up to 250km per week.

Each of our riders have paid their costs to take part in the Ride so all donations raised by the Team go directly to Youth Focus. To date, Team Citadel-MAGNUS has raised more than $40,000 and expects to raise more than $50,000 by the time of the Ride.

To learn more about the Hawaiian Ride For Youth click here or, to support Team Citadel-MAGNUS, please click here to visit the team page and make a tax deductible donation.