Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to the work of Linfield Rotary in organising the Linfield Rotary Fun Run which was held in my electorate on Sunday, 3 April. The fun run is a popular community event, with some 1,800 people participating this year, the 10th year that the event has been run. That is the largest number of participants that has ever been achieved. It is very much a voluntary effort, coordinated by the Linfield Rotary Club with assistance from volunteers from the SES and other organisations. The police are also there. I want to pay tribute to the sponsors, Century 21, and I also want to mention the organisation which is the beneficiary of the proceeds of this year's event, the Ku-ring-gai Youth Development Service, a very important counselling service for young people located in the suburb of Linfield in my electorate of Bradfield.

At this marvellous community event there is a very wide spectrum of ages represented, some very young children, including one particular 12-year-old who zoomed past me as if I was standing still. I did not see what time he eventually achieved, but I do note that the winner achieved a time of approximately 17 minutes, which is some nine minutes better than my own time. The important things about this event are the spirit of community participation which it engenders, a very wide spectrum of ages and abilities which are represented amongst those who are running and the very important cause which is being serviced. Most important is the fact that this is entirely a voluntary effort, a community effort organised by people who want to contribute to our community in Linfield and in the seat of Bradfield by giving people the opportunity to participate in an enjoyable event which offers them the chance to engage in healthy outdoor activity and improve their fitness and also to contribute by arranging an event, the proceeds of which go to support an extremely worthwhile program, the Ku-ring-gai Youth Development Service, which supports particularly young people who are experiencing difficulties of various kinds. KYDS is staffed by trained psychologists. It has been supported by Rotary and by other local community organisations as well as by Ku-ring-gai Council for a considerable period of time. I want to commend the Linfield Rotary Club and all who participated in the Linfield Rotary Fun Run.