Red23’s Terry Portelli gears up to ride 500km over 5 days to raise funds for Hands Across the Water

On 7 April 2020, Terry Portelli, Managing Director of residential project marketing and sales agency Red23, will set off on a journey to ride 500 kilometres over 5 days from Hua Hin to Khao Lak, Thailand in an effort to raise money and awareness for Hands Across the Water, Australian-based charity supporting over 350 disadvantaged children across Thailand.

The annual ‘Doing Good Rewards Ride’ is a Hands Across the Water corporate fundraising initiative each year which asks bike riders to raise five thousand dollars per person in order to join the “bucket list” experience, in addition to funding their own travel expenses. Over 5 days, riders will ride on average 100km a day starting from Hua Hin to Khao Lak.

“Hands Across the Water is close to my heart because first and foremost I am a father and to see children in need resonates with me.

The bike ride will be rewarding in a number of ways. The priorities are to raise money and to support Hands Across The Water with building homes for kids who have been dealt with immense adversity at a young age.

It will also be a personal challenge to complete the distances that have been set in the Thailand climate. It is a way to demonstrate how the challenges we face day to day whether it be at work, in our personal lives or on a long-distance ride can be overcome.

I sincerely hope when the children see us riding and visiting them, they feel truly cared for and loved.

I just can’t wait to meet the kids and support the programs that Hands Across The Water implements through these fundraising activities,” says Terry.

For those in Thailand, the kids and communities whose lives are positively changed each and every day, Hands Across the Water measure the impact of their work, not on the number of kids, not on the number of homes and not on the amount of money raised. They can certainly be tangible measures. But the one metric Hands value most is the choices the kids have when it’s time to leave their home.

“Whilst we continue to provide the funding for the immediate and short-term needs, our focus is also on building programs that will create stronger individuals and stronger communities that removes the need for the support we are providing now” say Peter Baines,

Founder of Hands Across the Water. “But to achieve this there is a sustained commitment required to bring about the long-term sustainability.”

Money raised from the annual bike ride will go towards the annual operating costs of the seven homes run by Hands Across the Water totaling $1.8million per annum, inclusive of lifesaving medicine for many of the children whom otherwise would go without.

“Not only does the support change lives, but it saves lives. Due to a lack of life saving medicine, children were dying from HIV related illnesses. By making a long-term commitment we stopped the children dying” says Baines.

In addition, Hands are focused on key projects over the next 12 months which will see the children provided with additional education and training programs to prepare them for future long-term employment opportunities.

• Hospitality Training Program to develop in-demand hospitality skills providing employment opportunities in resorts and hotels in the Khao Lak region.
• Technology Learning Centre to build technical literacy through adolescent years and contribute to employability and job opportunities upon school graduation in the remote Yasathon province.
• University Scholarship Program which currently sees over 40 students funded through university degrees across Thailand.

To make a tax deductible donation to Terry Portelli’s fundraising or for more information go

to: https://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au/fundraisers/terry-portelli