The Warrnambool businessman looks just as comfortable on a bike as he does behind a desk.
Now at the age of 63, Chris is preparing to tackle a 500-kilometre charity ride (over five days) across some of Thailand’s most scenic towns, lush plantations and picturesque national parks.
And all for charity.
“I’ll fly out on March 22 and start the ride two days later,” Chris said.
“We’ll be riding from Hua Hin down to the east coast and across Khao Sok National Park to Khao Lak.
“I’ll be among a group of about 70 riders who’ll come from all over Australia and New Zealand.
“The ride is a fundraiser for Hands Across The Water, a charity organisation that was established in response to the 2004 tsunami that devastated so many villages in Thailand.”
Now 20 years on from that devastating event, the charity organisation continues to raise funds to ensure its seven homes across Thailand, which support more than 350 children, continue to not only operate but thrive.
The children who live in the ‘Hands’ homes are there because they have no choice.
It’s often the result of one of three heartbreaking situations – no known family to care for them, a family member known to them but unable to care for them, or they were living in an unsafe environment and have been placed in care by police or the government.
Hands Across the Water also provides life-saving necessities for those children, and supports many families through an outreach program.
“Fundraising for Hands also allows the organisation to fill these children’s bellies with healthy food and to provide them with a safe bed to sleep in. It’s also about helping these kids to see the opportunities that lie before them, to see a life of choice and to have a better future.”
As a father of three girls, the plight of these children resonates with Chris.
“Back in 2004 Ange (partner) and I had two girls under the age of two,” he explained.
“I had just finished melanoma treatment and on Boxing Day we were sitting down watching the girls play with their Santa gifts when we heard about the tsunami that hit Asia.
“It made me think, what would happen to our girls if something happened to Ange and I?”
The following year Chris made a donation to the Hands Across the Water foundation to help families and children affected by the tsunami.
“We felt we just had to do something to help. In 2019 I heard Peter Baines (the charity’s founder) speak about a fundraising bike ride and I just had to join,” Chris said.
“But then Covid hit and that put an end to the ride. Fortunately, a virtual bike ride was created so we could take part that way. I was then hooked.”
And in just over a week Chris’ goal of partaking in an “actual ride in Thailand” will come to fruition.
“Not only has this ride become a way of promoting the foundation and raising some much-needed money for it, it has also improved my own health and wellbeing through all my training,” he said.
“I’m feeling the fittest I’ve been in years and that’s a great bonus.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the looks on the kids faces when we arrive in the village at the end and I’m hoping to take over some small gifts for them as well.”
As part of his fundraising efforts, Chris has organised a special event for this Sunday, March 16.
A pre-retirement planning workshop will run from 8.50am-3pm at Body Blitzer, Raglan Parade, Warrnambool.
The workshop will help attendees identify the five common regrets of current retirees, and create a plan with the help of five experts who will each present a potential solution on the day.
“Everyone participating in this month’s ride is set a target of $5,000 to raise; this ensures that collectively we can raise $350,000.”
As of the end of last week, Chris’ individual fundraising tally had reached almost $3,800.
Anyone wishing to take part in the planning workshop, or to make a donation, can contact Chris at Ceebeks Business Solutions.
