Roy in his ice bath in training in August.
The Young community is preparing to rally around one of their own after the announcement of a fundraiser to benefit local footballing identity and community legend Roy Jewitt after he suffered a stroke just shy of two months ago.
The ‘One More Round for Roy’ event will see his friend and Boys to the Bush employee, Matt Horder, along with his son Jesse Jewitt complete a 24-hour challenge in a fundraising event in February 2025.
The event will feature rowing, riding, and running every hour with Horder, Jesse and friend Narelle rowing 3 kilometres, riding 3 kilometres and running 2 kilometres on the hour every hour for 24 hours.
Alongside the rowing, running and riding, there will be a 24-hour walking challenge called the Relay for Roy, which teams can enter.
Roy’s friend and former teammate at the Young Cherrypickers, Harden Hawks coach Nick Hall, said this about the event:
“Hopefully this event brings in some funds for Roy and his family in a real time of need for them,” Hall said.
“Things took a left turn in a hurry for Roy and his family and it brings a whole lot of costs and a whole lot of changes that are forced on them in a hurry when you might have otherwise made a plan for it.
“There is no planning for this.
“They are in the fight and they need some support. While a GoFundMe had raised over $50,000 for Roy’s immediate medical costs previously, Hall said that this fundraiser is aimed at assisting Roy and his family long term, as he continues on his road to recovery.
“Initially we raised a little bit for him which was tremendous, but now it’s time to start and assess where Roy is at in the next month or two and make some longer term plans,” he said.
“I think it is really vital.”
Another interesting point that Hall raised is that Roy himself had already planned a fundraiser for Motor Neurone Disease similar to the one that is now being held to assist him, with the community Roy rallied around now preparing to rally around him.
“The other little thing I think is interesting is that Roy was already planning a fundraiser along the lines of what this was for MND and the causes that Roy had been supporting previously, and the residual effect of the ones that Roy had done were that community aspect that Roy really loved and bringing the community together.
“It was far and away a bigger response than he expected, and he also got a bigger buzz out of it than he expected because it was so good.
“Roy was looking forward to that and this is a part to it that I’m sure it’s a community based thing and everyone is getting around it and as we found in the previous ones, I think as well as raising money for Roy it is going to have a real uptick in culture and the community here in February for this town and all the sporting bodies.
“They all get together, all the businesses get together, the people of Young get together to walk around a field for 24 hours and share some time, crack a joke and raise money for a good guy at the same time.”
Registration for teams looking to participate in the Relay For Roy fundraiser is $25 per person.
Alongside Boys to the Bush, local supermarket Donges IGA also pledged their support to the event, with all funds raised to be divided among assisting locals with Motor Neurone Disease, the Stroke Foundation, and Roy’s rehabilitation.
The fundraiser will kick off at Cranfield Oval on Friday February 21 at 5pm, with the last hour set to begin at 4pm the following day.
-Tallon Smith