Cancer can be beaten

October 24, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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“Cancer can be beaten.” What an amazing statement. That’s what one cancer researcher recently told me. He’s confident that a day will come when we beat cancer.

How different would our world be without cancer? How many people that we have deeply loved would still be with us? How much heartbreak would we have been spared?

It might not be in our grasp to relegate cancer to the history books yet but if we’re serious about it, we can help with research that may help that eventually happen and we can help those who are currently on a journey with cancer.

In one week from today, Monday the 31st of October, I’ll be joined by twelve other cyclists for a ride from Albany to Perth, honouring those who have battled cancer and the many more who have journeyed alongside a loved one who has faced this terrible disease. I’ll broadcast my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM from a different town each morning before we jump on our bikes to ride to our next destination.

As well as getting ready to cycle over 500 kilometres we’re all raising money for Cancer Council Western Australia and so while you may not be able to join our ride you can certainly help us reach our fundraising goals.

The team is hoping to raise over $20 000 for Cancer Council WA.

Can I ask you to consider donating right now to Cancer Council WA to help those facing cancer? I know that not everyone can afford to a huge amount so please feel free to give whatever you can. Every amount of $2 or above is tax deductible in Australia and will make a difference for so many.

You can donate directly by following this link. The link will take you directly to the Everyday Hero secure site.

Monday 31st October 2011:
Broadcasting from Albany 9 – 12
Albany to Cranbrook 91 km

Tuesday 1st November 2011:
Broadcasting from Cranbrook 9 – 12
Cranbrook to Katanning 80 km

Wednesday 2nd November 2011:
Broadcasting from Katanning 9 – 12
Katanning to Wagin 55 km

Thursday 3rd November 2011:
Broadcasting from Wagin 9 – 12
Wagin to Pingelly 100 km

Friday 4th November 2011:
Broadcasting from Pingelly 9 – 12
Pingelly to York 87 km

Saturday 5th November 2011:
York to Perth 97 km

TOTAL: 510 km

Help spread the word.

I’d also ask you to share the link to this post through your blog or whatever other means you have available. At the bottom of this post are buttons for sharing the details on StumbleUpon, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, Reddit or even emailing the post to others. Just click your preferred button (or all of them) to get the word out.



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World Suicide Prevention Day

August 30, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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It’s something that tears families apart and leaves an ache that doesn’t seem to diminish over the years. It raises unanswerable questions and takes more lives each year than the road toll, yet we hear far less about its devastating effects.

Each year in Western Australia, over 200 people complete suicide and an even greater number harm themselves in suicide attempts. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business and we all play an important role in preventing suicide in our community.

Saturday the 10th of September is International World Suicide Prevention Day.

World Suicide Prevention Day is held on September 10th each year. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented. Disseminating information, improving education and training, and decreasing stigmatization are important tasks in such an endeavour. The theme in 2011 is “Preventing Suicide in Multicultural Societies”.

To find out more about the part that we can all play in preventing suicide I spoke to Jade Lewis on my radio program, the Morning Café. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR300811_0842.mp3]

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Please Join the Battle Against Cancer

August 25, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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If it hasn’t touched your life yet, I can almost guarantee that it will.

We don’t like to talk about cancer so we can sometimes start believing that we’re alone in facing its effects. The reality is that since I’ve started talking to others about cancer I haven’t encountered even one person who hasn’t been personally affected in one way or another.

I do hope you can spare just a few moments to read my personal appeal to you and consider helping

I’m about to undertake a bike ride of over 500 km from Albany to Perth to raise funds for Cancer Council Western Australia. This will be the third year in a row that I’ve cycled for this cause. I feel very strongly about it and if you’ve been effected by cancer, I’m sure you do too. The work being done by Cancer Council Western Australia is having effects right around the world through their high level research.

I’ll be joined by twelve other cyclists and each morning for a week I’ll be sharing cancer stories on the Morning Café, my 98.5 Sonshine FM radio program, before hopping onto my bike just after midday to cycle to the next town. The ride will start on the 31st of October and we’ll arrive back in Perth on Saturday the 5th of November.

The team is hoping to raise over $20 000 for Cancer Council WA. I’ve reset my personal goal to $2000. That means that I need 20 people to give $100. Can I ask you to consider donating $100 to help those facing cancer through Cancer Council WA? I know that not everyone can afford to give so generously so please feel free to give whatever you can. Every amount of $2 or above is tax deductible in Australia and will make a difference for so many. If you can afford $5, $10 or $20 it will certainly help towards reaching the target.

You can give directly by going to the secure Everyday Hero fund raising site set up especially for the ride. Just click the Donate Now button and select my name as the team member you’d like to support.

You can find out even more about the ride and my reasons for taking part by reading my earlier blog post, Riding for Cancer 2011.

Thank you for considering my request and for helping those facing cancer.

Can I please ask one more favour? Please use the sharing buttons at the bottom of this post to spread the message through Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or whatever services you use.



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Cycling Survey Highlights Road Fears

August 23, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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The RAC in Western Australia is calling for motorists and cyclists to work together to make the roads safer for all road users.

The results of their recent cycling survey showed that 91% of respondents highlighted their fear of sharing the road as one of the major barriers to getting on their bikes. There’s been a surge in cycling since Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France but to truly capitalise on the renewed interest in two wheeled transportation, cyclists need to feel safer.

This morning during the Morning Café on 98.5 Sonshine FM I spoke to RAC Head of Advocacy Matt Brown about the survey.

RAC cycling survey results:

57% rate Perth’s cycle network as average or below
91% of cyclists fear sharing the road with motorists
31% say the social acceptability/status of cycling is a barrier to them cycling
35% believe the government should build more cycle lanes on roads
27% would like to see more bike/shared paths built

Are you a cyclist who fears traffic? What do you think should be done to get more people out on their bikes?



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Riding for Cancer 2011

August 11, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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I’ll be riding my bike with a little more purpose in the coming months as I start preparing for a ride from Albany to Perth this November.

The ride follows the success of rides held over the last couple of years. This will be our third ride highlighting the cancer journey of a number of people and raising money to fight cancer.

The Story Behind the Rides

In February 2009 my wife’s sister passed away at the age of 41 from cancer.

In the weeks leading up to her death I was throwing an idea around for a bike ride from Perth to Albany. The ride would take my morning radio programme on the road to broadcast from a different town each day.

I wanted to give people who had been touched by cancer a chance to tell their story. Whether they’d lost a loved one or survived cancer, I wanted people to have the opportunity to break the silence and let people know that they’ve been through some deep waters. I wanted others who have been touched by cancer to know they’re not alone.

That ride happened in October 2009 and was very successful in so many ways.

As well as giving people opportunity to tell their story we raised around $15 000 for Cancer Council Western Australia.

Last year we reversed the direction and cycled from Albany to Perth, raising almost $20 000.

Ride for Cancer 2011

So now we’re doing it all over again. We’ll be cycling from Albany to Perth with the event taking place in the first week of November. We’ll travel to Albany on the last weekend of October to prepare to start riding back on Monday the 31st of October, arriving back in Perth on Saturday the 5th of November.

We have a great team of cyclists ready to take part and once again I’ll broadcast my radio programme each morning before hopping onto my bike just after midday to cycle to the next town. We’ll be followed by support vehicles which will carry all our gear.

If you’re part of a business that would like to partner with us on the journey, I’m urgently looking for some sponsors for the cycling jerseys. There are different levels of sponsorship for various sized logos on the jerseys.

I also need your story. Have you been touched by cancer? Are you battling cancer now or beaten it in the past? Does a loved one have cancer? Have you lost a friend? If you’d rather not leave your story in the comments section of this post, you can go to my contact page and send me an email.

Please Support Our Ride

You can make a donation to support Cancer Council WA by heading to the Everyday Hero fundraising page. If we can raise $20 000 dollars this year it’ll bring our total so far to over $50 000.

If you’re in Australia your donation is tax deductible. Even if you’re not, the work that Cancer Council WA is doing is making a difference throughout the world through some highly regarded research projects. Just head to the webpage and click donate. You’ll see a dropdown box that you can use to select ‘Rodney Olsen’ as the team member you want to support.



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