Community & Business
14 June, 2023
Determined Claude mows on
He's travelled through our region many times before in a bid to raise money for Bravehearts and this year, Claude the Mower Man returns, hoping to raise a total of $2 million for the charity before he dies.
He's travelled through our region many times before in a bid to raise money for Bravehearts and this year, Claude the Mower Man returns, hoping to raise a total of $2 million for the charity before he dies.
Claude Harvey OAM (pictured) is now 76 years of age but that’s not stopping him from doing what he does best – pushing an old mower through central Queensland and into the Far North region, visiting 27 towns along the way over 36 days.
Claude has raised just over $1.6 million for Bravehearts by walking all around the country over the past 13 years, pushing his lawnmower collecting donations and raising awareness of child protection issues.
Bravehearts is a charity organisation that deals exclusively with the issue of child sexual assault, providing counselling, training and in-school education shows for children from kindy to Year 4.
“I became an active and dedicated Bravehearts volunteer after watching footage on the news of a paedophile being arrested for sexually assaulting a child,” Claude said.
“Having seen this I thought, ‘We all would like to hurt the perpetrator, but how many of us would think to help the victim?’
“Further motivation came when two family friends disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted and were too frightened to speak out.
“From that day, I vowed to do everything possible to make a difference in the lives of child sexual assault survivors – and that is exactly what I have done.”
Unfortunately, Claude’s wife passed away recently and he is now desperate to get back on the road and doing what he loves best, fundraising for Bravehearts. In his own words, Claude “vows to do everything possible to make a difference in the lives of child sexual assault survivors and I want to raise $2 million before I die”.
Claude will be in Mareeba from Friday until Sunday and locals are encouraged to donate to him while he’s in town. Locals can also go to www.bravehearts.org.au to donate.
