Boys to the Bush come to VRC Country Race Day

Boys to the Bush is a registered not-for-profit, community-based charity that focuses on preventative and early intervention strategies for disengaged young males. It was created in 2017 by a group of teachers who had noticed the positive impact they had by focusing on a group of troubled boys and showing them some basic country life skills, and has now improved the outcomes for more than 10,000 of the community’s most vulnerable youth.

Boys to the Bush uses a relationships-based approach and engages with the community to help create better long-term outcomes for youth in regional communities. Not only is Boys to the Bush creating better young men, they are connecting the communities in which they operate.

This race day will be the first time that Boys to the Bush partners with the VRC. There will be a race dedicated to Boys to the Bush and opportunities for racegoers to donate via Ticketmaster and QR codes across the course, while the VRC will also donate $1 from the sale of every serving of hot chips on the race day as part of the new ‘Chips for Charity’ initiative.

VRC CEO Steve Rosich said that the VRC is proud to welcome Boys to the Bush to Flemington as part of VRC Country Race Day.

“VRC Country Race Day is dedicated to celebrating the important contribution made by those who live in the country, especially in our industry,” Mr Rosich said.

“Boys to the Bush is a fantastic community organisation dedicated to improving the prospects of disengaged youth in rural and regional areas, and this was a perfect opportunity to promote the work that they do.

“We commend the achievements of Boys to the Bush to date and hope that this race day helps to shine a light on this important work.”

Boys to the Bush co-founder and CEO Adam Demamiel said that they were pleased to be part of VRC Country Race Day at Flemington.

“Our organisation is all about helping kids in country areas, who we know are twice as likely as metro kids to enter out-of-home care, and whose educational and health outcomes lag significantly behind their metropolitan counterparts.

“Since 2017 Boys to the Bush has impacted over 10,000 lives through involvement in its range of programs, and we hope to reach 130,000 by 2030.

“Racing as an industry is very connected to country life, as is our charity, and we are delighted to be celebrating that synergy at VRC Country Race Day.”

For more information about Boys to the Bush, please visit the website https://boystothebush.org.au/