Bathurst Shine For Kids volunteer Ryan Dury has put a team together for this Saturday's Bowdens Silver Mudgee Rugby Sevens competition in order to raise awareness of the organisation's role in the community.
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The event is considered one of the leading rugby union events in country NSW, and will see 16 men's and five women's teams from across the state compete in a social round robin format.
But for Mr Dury, the event will combine an enjoyable activity with an opportunity to highlight Shine for Kids' role in supporting children with a family member currently incarcerated.
"It's hard to attract volunteers to Shine For Kids so with this event, we're hoping to inform more people about the great work our organisation does in Bathurst and beyond," he said.
"While we're hoping to give the other teams a good contest, the main goal is to get our name out there and encourage more volunteers to get on board."
Mr Dury said the team has set a fundraising goal of $2000 for the organisation, which they will aim to achieve through a combination of water and jersey sales.
"We've raised $900 already, and we'll be running a gold coin donation drive for bottles of water on the day," he said.
"The team will also wear special jerseys at the event which we intend to sell afterwards, and any leftover jerseys will be donated to the children we support through Shine for Kids."
Centre manager Samantha McGill said Shine For Kids has a number of different programs in Bathurst for children with imprisoned family members.
"We have our own room in the minimum security section of Bathurst Correctional Centre for children to participate in fun activities with their family," Ms McGill said.
"The organisation also facilitates a mentoring program where our volunteers help keep children on the right path."
Ms McGill said the organisation steps in for family members at times to conduct supervised jail visits for children.
"We understand some family members prefer to not have any contact with incarcerated relatives, but are open to their children visiting," she said.
"For a child, a prison visit can be quite a traumatic experience, so we aim to ensure children can spend time with relatives free of any family tension."
The competition will take place this Saturday, October 12 from 9am at Mudgee's Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium.
