Sep 10th, 2018 09/10/18 | Community Stories

CITY2SURF

Adventurous Sydneysider, Averil Yeo, raised $1,143.18 for Cambodian Children's Fund by racing in City2Surf - a 14 kilometer fun run from Sydney’s city centre to the famous Bondi Beach Born in Camperdown Sydney, a speedy 5 minutes after my twin sister Caitlin, I’ve spent most of my life living in the inner west, and I still live just around the corner from my twin. With a Singaporean father and Australian mother, who encouraged us to pursue what we love, my sister, older brother and I all ended up working in creative industries. My twenties were spent traveling the world with a small circus group, my thirties as Captain Starlight, children’s entertainer and program manager for the Starlight Children’s Foundation, and for the last few years, I’ve moved into producing large outdoor public events for Sydney. It’s a big job, so I really look forward to my overseas holidays and love to discover new countries, cultures and cuisines. Recently my friend and I decided to travel to Vietnam, with a quick stop over in Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. We didn’t expect to be so taken by Cambodia. The Khmer people are so friendly, kind and honest, we quickly became seduced by their smiles and the beautiful Cambodian countryside. We stayed at The Golden Banana Residence in Siem Reap where the staff were so friendly it felt like our home for the few days we were there. We hired a local guide, Sam, to join us for two days around the temples of Angkor and it was Sam’s story that inspired me to fundraise for the people of Cambodia. Sam was so incredibly knowledgeable about the temples, the history and culture of Cambodia, but what struck a chord was his story of tragedy living through the Pol Pot regime. When I returned to Sydney, I researched Cambodian charities and came across the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) and then decided they would be my City2Surf charity. A couple of days after I had started fundraising, I received an email from CCF thanking me for my support and asking if I would I like to wear a CCF shirt while running the City2Surf. I visited the CCF office and left with two shirts, one for me and one for my twin sister who was joining me for the fun run. CCF informed me that I was the only ‘City to Surfer’ fundraising for CCF, which motivated me to up my fundraising target from $500 to $750. Thanks to all my supporters, I ended up raising $1143.18! 2018 was my third City2Surf. In 2010, my friend and I ran it in 1.45mins, in 2015 I walked with the same friend, and her kids, which meant we were so slow that the police were opening the roads behind us! This year, my twin sister and I walked it in just under 3 hours and had a lovely time chatting all the way. My sister had only agreed to do the City2Surf with me if I walked, not ran. I rarely get the opportunity to spend 3 hours alone with my sister, so of course I decided to walk with her. We would have been much quicker, but working in the events world, I saw so many people I knew along the way and I had to stop and chat to everyone, check out all the entertainment, crowd management and event facilities. It was a great day out and was made even more special to be raising funds for CCF. I hope the $1,143.18 can help CCF help the people of Cambodia, and I hope to get back to Cambodia again soon.
Tags
Written by

CCF Media Team

More Stories & News

See all