ELA is an ongoing sponsor of the Red Sky Ride, an event focuses on ‘ordinary people’ doing extraordinary things, with local community members making the commitment to raise funds and awareness for the SolarisCare Foundation. During seven long days a group of amateur riders will defy the summer heat as they tackle a 1,000 kilometre cycling tour through the states South West. Juggling careers, businesses and families these ‘ordinary people’ have made the commitment to this event and to their family, friends and co-workers whose lives have been touched by cancer.

Their motivation for this extreme challenge came about as a result of witnessing firsthand the trauma that their friends and loved ones had undergone with losing someone to cancer. The pair set about using their contacts in the business world to organise riders and sponsorship for the first event and so began the challenge that is the Red Sky Ride.

The SolarisCare Foundation was chosen as the beneficiary for the Red Sky Ride to ensure that the funds raised through the endeavour would be accessible by people with all forms of cancer, as well as their carers.

ELA Directors; Andrew Rothon and Phil Price rode the challenging 1,000 kilometres in the 2012 event, raising more than $20,000.00 for the SolarisCare Foundation.

ELA would especially like to thank:

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  Bosch Security Systems Pty Ltd for their $1,000.00 donation



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  Charter Financial Services for their $500.00 donation



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  CommtechWireless Pty Ltd for their $500.00 donation

The SolarisCare Foundation was founded by Dr. David Joske, with the mission of creating a “soft place to land” for his patients. Having personally seen the effects of a cancer diagnosis through his work Dr Joske could understand the difficult road ahead as patients and their carers are required to make decisions on treatment, learn a new medical language and come to terms with what is about to happen in their lives and the lives of those around them. Dr Joske knew that there needed to be a bridge between the medical community and their patients. The SolarisCare Foundation was the result.

From its inception in 2001 the SolarisCare Foundation has strived to deliver vital complementary therapy to cancer sufferers throughout Western Australia. SolarisCare believes that by treating a person’s mind and body in conjunction with mainstream medical treatment it will give patients the best possible chance for a full recovery.

With the addition of a third regional Cancer Support Centre in the states South West the SolarisCare Foundation now has over 130 volunteers delivering over 6,000 free treatments each year all helped by the efforts of the Red Sky Riders.

As Dr Joske puts it “the Red Sky Riders have been like our guardian angels working tirelessly to ensure that the SolarisCare Cancer Support Centres can continue to offer support to the community.” He continues that “Having completed the Red Sky Ride myself I know the hours of dedicated work that goes into this event and I am constantly amazed by the results that these ordinary people achieve”.

The first ride was held in 2008 and over the next four years the event continued to grow. So successful has this event been that the Red Sky Ride has already raised over $1,000,000 towards the initial goal of $1,500,000.