The event, held for the first time in Wodonga on February 24, raised $25,000 for the AWRCC Trust Fund.

Fund events manager Jane Evans said the proceeds would help go towards funding the new position.

“We ran some community forums in 2017 with cancer patients and the overwhelming feedback was that further mental health support was needed,” she said.

“We’ve got really good counsellors and social workers here at the centre, but we’ve never had a clinical psychologist and there’s a huge demand for one.

“Patients are reaching out – it’s obviously really life changing to receive that diagnosis not only for them but for their primary carers and loved ones.

“We hope to have someone recruited and working part-time within the next two months.”

Ms Evans said proceeds from the Cycle Challenge and other community events also supported ongoing programs at the centre such as cooking classes and massage.

“We’re fortunate enough to be the recipient of the challenge for the last six yeas, so we’ve received $128,000 so far which is phenomenal,” she said. 

“All of that goes to the Wellness Centre, which is a beautiful area of respite for the patients, away from the cancer treatment areas.

“They can come here, read a book, watch some television, and pay their bills with the iPads.

“We also hope to offer some exercise therapy later in the year.”

Ms Evans said the trust fund had committed $200,000 each year for three years to programs, including the psychologist role, at the Wellness Centre.

“It’s only through amazing events like the Lake Hume Cycle Challenge that we can continue to offer everything we do,” she said.

Rotary Club of Bellbridge Lake Hume member and cycle challenge director Reg Hinton said an extra $7000 was raised this year despite numbers being slightly down.

“It was very well supported considering how windy it was later in the day,” he said.

“The event was a success and the new venue at Wodonga Racecourse worked very well.

“We had some pretty severe overheads last year, but this year we’ve managed to reduce those a little, and been able to translate that into a greater bottom line which is really good.”

About 650 riders took part in this year’s challenge with rides ranging from the two kilometre family ride to the 118 km Dederang Dominator.