Andy Friend has completed the last leg of his three-month cycling journey with a stop at Outward Bound’s National Base to announce the result of his fundraising effort and dedicate funds to an Outward Bound program for people with Acquired Brain Injury.

The charity ride, from Cooktown to Canberra, raised in the vicinity of $160,000, which will be split between Brain Injury Australia for research purposes and Outward Bound Australia to run Potential Unlimited, a custom-designed program for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI).

In announcing the final fundraising effort, Andy and his wife Kerri, who acquired a brain injury as a result of a mountain bike accident in 2010, presented a signed and framed bike riders jersey to former Outward Bound CEO Darren Black.

The Potential Unlimited program was born in 1998 when Matt Thomas, a resident psychologist with SABIS (now Head of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst) began working on a program that would offer the Outward Bound challenge to people with an acquired brain injury an opportunity so that they, like so many fully functioning people, might discover, develop and achieve their individual potential.

Since 1998 the course has run in 2000, 2002 and 2003 and in 2010 Outward Bound conducted a highly successful pilot program aimed specifically at adolescents, which the 2012 program will be based on.

Potential Unlimited Project Coordinator Lloyd Worthy said the initiative is an ongoing success story and the subject of extensive research papers by Thomas.

“The exciting by-product to the Outward Bound programs for people with ABI is the discovery that there has been a significant and apparently sustainable improvement in the elusive area of "adjustment" for people with ABI,” said Mr Worthy.

“Research and feedback from participants and brain injury rehabilitation staff indicates that the thirty-five participants involved thus far have made advances far beyond expectations and continue to improve.

“An enormous amount of donors, supporters and family members have expressed their delight regarding the changes to the attitudes of the participants.

“Follow-up positive research in this regard has generated growing interest in the world of brain injury rehabilitation, not only in the participating units in New South Wales, but also nationally and more recently, internationally.”

In 2002, Westmead Hospital, which houses Australia's largest ABI Unit, entered the project, achieving an outstanding result with a more than 80% achievement rate in individual short and mid-term goals set by the Westmead group in the first 12 months after completing the Outward Bound course. Westmead has recently booked an October 2012 date, intending to provide participants for the next course.

Margaret Onus from the Westmead Hospital ABI Rehabilitation Service said the physical activities in the Potential Unlimited program was the turning point for participants.

“Outward Bound's philosophy of "challenge by choice" encouraged our group of participants to have a go & rediscover a "can do" attitude rather than focusing on their limitations,” said Ms Onus.

The Potential Unlimited program to be run in 2012 is now in the preparation stages thanks to the generous donation from Andy Friend and his wife Kerri.