Paul Bourke is riding around Australia with a football strapped to the back of his vintage Indian.
He is on a mission to kick a goal at every town he passes through on his round Australia tour, and on Sunday biker Paul Bourke is expected to arrive in Esperance on his vintage Indian.
Mr Bourke, from Geelong in Victoria, has a personal mission to make sure no Indigenous kid ever goes without footy boots.
“This started out as a bit of fun doing a lap of the country on an Indian motorbike,” he said.
“When I was in Cairns I thought it would be fun to buy a footy and kick a goal at every oval I could find around the country.
“I met some local kids in Katherine at a footy oval. We all had a shot at goal and a bit of a laugh.
“I found out the lads share a box of footy boots across their footy team. That didn’t sit well with me and I wanted to make a difference in their lives.”
So Mr Bourke went to Darwin to buy 10 pairs of boots for the kids and their team mates and rode back to Katherine to give them the boots.
“I was going to keep it to myself but the joy it gave them was priceless and I had to share it with people on my YouTube channel,” he said.
The video went viral and Mr Bourke started getting recognised as he rode around the top end as the man on the motorbike giving out footy boots.
“This led me to meet more Indigenous kids in communities and join them for a kick,” he said.
“Now, I am doing my best to raise money to buy as many pairs of footy boots for kids as I can via GoFundme and my contacts.”
So far, he said he had raised around $12,000 through his GoFundme page “Footy Boots for Outback Australians” and additional donations.
From Esperance he aims to cross the Nullabor, then head to Katherine to arrive the week before grand final weekend.
