The event has been run by the Rotary Club of Central Launceston since 2009, and all entry fees from the event are donated to causes that support initiatives to improve the mental health of young people.

Rotary Club of Central Launceston president Rick Marton said the funds raised from the event went to a range of different initiatives that assisted young people.

“We’re not just treating the symptoms, we’re helping people to lead their best life,” he said. “By supporting many of these initiatives over a few years, we’re making sure we’re making the biggest difference we can.”

The $21,000 raised from Sally’s Ride in 2014 was donated to Resilient Youth Australia.

“We’ve found that the program has not only improved confidence and self-esteem, but also the NAPLAN results of the schools.”

In 2015, $24,000 worth of funding went to Ravenswood Child & Family Centre for a part-time speech pathologist for three years, who assists to correct and improve the communication skills of young children.

“We want to make sure that these people are getting the best future,” Mr Marton said. “When children have difficulties with their communication skills, it can affect their educational outcomes for the rest of their lives.”

The City Mission’s Inside Out 4 Kids program is one of the recent funding recipients, with the $24,000 donated by Sally’s Ride helping to run the program from 2016 to 2018.

Mr Marton said  the work this program was doing had brought him to tears.

“We’re assisting kids that might be falling through the cracks,” he said.

The program aims to prevent long-term difficulties that can arise from grief and life-altering events, such as family breakdowns, and helps children to see that change and loss are normal parts of life.

“Some of these kids have had the most traumatic experiences and are so scared of the world. They’re at risk of giving up or even wanting to end their lives.”

The program is offered at no charge to schools and families, has supported more than 300 children, and operates in 38 schools across Tasmania.

City Mission’s children services supervisor Teenette van Dyk said the program made a huge impact.

“Many children and families come in quite broken and quite sad. We bring some courage and hope back into their lives.”