They have become a familiar sight around Melbourne’s bay side streets. Two mornings a week and every Saturday the group of bike riders, known as the Dendy Riders, ride together and encourage each other with the Club’s motto of Fun, Fitness and Friendship.
Member Tim Carmichael said it keeps the group of 48 men fit and healthy. There is certainly camaraderie and plenty of friendly competition to keep them motivated for the before-dawn starts, starting from Dendy St and Beach Rd.
So when they heard that one of their own was so close to raising $180,000 needed for a specialist neonatal ultrasound machine for the Women’s Newborn Intensive and Special Care (NISC) unit, the Dendy Riders wanted to help.
They did it because buying the ultrasound was the dream of team member Tim Carmichael and his wife Kylie. The couple wanted to buy the ultrasound in memory of their son Sam who was born 14 weeks early and spent his three short weeks in the care of the Women’s NISC team.
“I was hoping we could possibly raise a couple of thousand dollars on the day,” Tim said. “To achieve the final $13,000 needed was just fantastic.”
A/Prof Carl Kuschel, the Medical Director of Neonatal Services at the Women’s, said having access to ultrasound was critical to the care of babies.
“The ultrasound can be performed at the bedside, so we don¹t have to move critically ill babies around the hospital. It allows us to get good images of most of the major organs - particularly the brain, heart, kidneys, and bladder - as well as helping with placement of intravenous lines through which we give fluids and nutrition.
“Having our own ultrasound machine in the newborn intensive and special care nursery will help us provide the best care possible to our vulnerable babies, and allows us to obtain images when required 24 hours a day."
Family and friends of Sam have, over the past three years, organised many special events to raise money to help purchase the ultrasound. Last year Kylie, who is the daughter of Virtually Forgotten Legend’s board member and ex -Melbourne/Carlton player Greg Wells, ran the Melbourne Marathon.
Then an employee of their family-owned business, Bentleigh Sign Group, who is also an artist, saw an article published in the Herald Sun telling Kylie’s story and was inspired to help. He said he used running to help him through a difficult period in his life, too.
The talented artist J Michael Allery then painted a portrait of Carlton champ Chris Judd that recently was auctioned at the VFL’s annual AFL Grand Final Eve lunch.
The Dendy Riders organised a club social event at the picturesque Montalto Winery at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, which was aimed to get family members more involved with the club and also to raise money for a charity close to one of its members and ultimately give something back to the community.
“It was a real team effort,” Tim said. “We asked each of the committee and members of the group to secure a donation for the day.
“We were fortunate to receive some fantastic items including a $2500 coffee machine from E&S Trading, a box at the football, dinner and event vouchers from the Prahran Hotel and the Melbourne Racing Club and a great signage package from Bentleigh Sign Group, as well as other great donations from Sass & Bide and Calibre.”
Tim said he wanted to thank the Dendy Riders who contributed to raising the money that included Greg Barclay, Kingsley Oldfield, Liam McDonnell, Marcus Lethlean, Ben Hamilton, Steve Greene, Anton Jovanovic, Ben Fothergill, Adrian Giles, Matthey Mullins, Marc White, Michael Harrison, Damian Angus, Matt Parish, Brodie Arnhold, Tim Nicholls and Marc White