It will shine a light on a painful issue which has impacted several Waitaki families in the past few months: youth suicide.
Tribal Nations ambassador Garry McLennan said their November 2 rally from Dunedin would include a community event in the Oamaru Harbour precinct with Stronger Waitaki for youth mental health and suicide awareness.
It follows the Arrow Koehler Legacy Ride to Oamaru on August 24.
That event was backed by Tribal Nations and paid tribute to a local young woman who died a few weeks before.
The Arrow Koehler rally highlighted the fact six people had taken their lives within a short period during July and August in Waitaki.
"That’s the reason we decided to go to Oamaru, because when we did the ride for Arrow, it was mentioned on several occasions that there had been six suicides," Mr McLennan said.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher, who will speak at the November 2 event, said he was very supportive of any focus to bolster youth mental health in Waitaki.
"It’s certainly been highlighted in recent months with the number of suicides overall. And certainly now, with our younger people, we really hope that they have got everything in front of them, and every reason to make the most of their lives."
Youthline was very important in what it did but was "one part of the solution", Mr Kircher said.
Concern about suicide had already resulted in at least one special event being hosted at Oamaru’s Harbour Collective recently, where a local counsellor offered their insight into the issue. Mr Kircher said grassroots initiatives such as that still needed the backing of publicly funded services.
And more was needed, particularly around youth resilience and tools to deal with the impacts on self image from social media.
"We know [support services] are generally doing what they can do, but it’s like a lot thing in health — it’s never quite enough.
"We know that things have to be really drastic for people to get help," Mr Kircher said.
Mr McLennan said they expected between 80 and 140 riders at the Oamaru rally.
"All money raised is for Youthline Otago."
Youthline now had a counsellor for Oamaru based at Waitaki Girls’ High School two days a week.
Mr McLennan said that in itself was not "a perfect solution," given the complexity of the issue, but it was a tool there for those who needed to make the call and to know that "people will listen".
