It takes a significant shift in mindset to go from overweight couch potato to a winning trans-Atlantic rower in just two years.
But this what Kevin Biggar achieved – made all the more impressive by the fact that he couldn’t even row when he decided to take on the challenge.
The couch-potato turned adventurer will be sharing his experiences of dealing with doubts, working as a team and persisting through the set-backs at the Beef + Lamb New Zealand and Taranaki Rural Support Trust evening event which will wrap up the B+LNZ’s Annual Meeting and Western North Island Showcase on Thursday, 26 March.
Kevin says it was the mental transformation he worked through that got him to the start line of the trans-Atlantic rowing race and it is this transformation that can be applied in any situation.
“There were so many reasons not to do it – like I don’t even know how to row.”
He is hoping that by sharing his experiences, it will help others see their own challenges in a lightly different light.
Taranaki Rural Support Trust Chair Mike Green says they were pleased to have the opportunity to partner with B+LNZ to run the evening event at the Devon Hotel to raise both money and awareness of the work the Rural Support Trust does.
Mike says Taranaki is a strong farming area and rural communities have felt the pain of two associated suicides in recent years.
The Rural Support Trust is people helping people and Mike stresses the need for rural communities to look out for each other and for individuals to take time out and find balance in their life.
Along with keynote speaker Kevin Biggar, a highlight of the evening will be the auctioning of items including an original artwork by artist and mental health and wellbeing advocate Paul Rangiwahia.
Titled “The Top Six Inches” the commissioned work refers to both topsoil and the mind, both of which require feeding and nurturing.
While Paul and the Rural Support Trust retain the print rights to the work, the auctioning of the original will be a highlight of the evening. The prints will be available at a cost of $300 through regional Rural Support Trusts at the end of March and Mike says they are hoping the sale of these prints will raise around $250,000.
Other items being offered are an All Blacks Jersey signed by Richie McCaw, a signed shirt by the Black Caps Team celebrating 100 tests for Ross Taylor, a helicopter ride, holiday accommodation and farming supplies.
Doors open at 7pm and the evening starts at 7.30. A koha to support the work of the Taranaki Support Trust would be appreciated.