A schedule has been released for Royce Simmons walk from Gooloogong to Sydney to raise funds for dementia research.
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The walk will see Simmons and his support team walking up to 30km a day.
Simmons wants to use his dementia diagnosis to bring dementia into the public consciousness and raise much-needed funds for important research into the disease.
And that's why he and his wife Liane, with the support of Panthers, Dementia Australia and other partners, have organised the inaugural Royce's Big Walk fundraising event.
Uppermost in Simmons' mind since he received his medical prognosis has been his desire to be, as his condition worsens, a burden on others for as little - in magnitude and duration - as he can.
And to do what has become second nature to the boy from the small town near Cowra, where his father was the local butcher - to enhance the lives of others.
Put the focus on them, not him.
"I want to help raise money for research as a mark of respect for the medical people who have worked so hard find a cure or a successful treatment and all those people who suffer watching a loved one go down the path of losing who they once were," he said.
In the weekend leading up to setting off on his walk on Tuesday, May 17 a sportsman's lunch will be held at the Canowindra Services Club and a barefoot bowls day will be held at Gooloogong.
Other sportsman lunches and special events will be held throughout the walk which finishes at Penrith's Bluebet Stadium on Friday, May 27 when the Penrith Panthers take on the North Queensland Cowboys
Special guests at the Canowindra sportsman's lunch on Sunday, May 15 from 1pm will be Craig Gower and Tony Butterfield .
The next day barefoot bowls will be held at Gooloogong Bowls Club from 6pm.
Day one of Royce's walk will see him make a 38km trek from his home town of Gooloogong to Cowra on Tuesday, May 17.
A sportsman's dinner will be held at the Cowra Bowling Club that evening from 6.30pm with Brad Fittler, Andrew Farrar and MC Darryl Brohman.
On Wednesday, May 18 he will walk 20km from Cowra to Woodstock and attend an event with Kurt Fearnley, Terry Lamb and Luke Goodwin at the Central West Stock Exchange at 8.30am.
The program for the remainder of the walk is:
Thursday, May 19 - Woodstock to Carcoar, 34.8km.
Friday, May 20 - Carcoar to Fitzgerald Mount, 27.7km. Sportsman's dinner at Blayney Golf Club 7pm with special guests Allan Langer, John Cartwright, Martin Lang, and Barry Walker.
Saturday, May 21 - Fitzgerald Mount to Bathurst, 24.5km. Sportsman's dinner, at Bathurst Panthers 6pm with special guests Allan Langer, John Cartwright, Martin Lang and Barry Walker.
Sunday, May 22 - Bathurst to Brewongle, 17km. 9am - Bathurst community walk and barbeque. 1pm: Men of League golf day (9-hole Ambrose) at the Bathurst Golf Club.
Monday, May 23 - Brewongle to Sodwalls, 33km.
Tuesday, May 24 - Sodwalls to Browns Gap (Hartley), 29km. Sportsman's dinner at Lithgow Workers Club 7pm with special guests Neil Paine, Chris Lawrence, Tim Sheens and Robbie Farah.
Wednesday, May 25 - Browns Gap to Katoomba, 29km. Sportsman's dinner at the Katoomba RSL 7pm with special guests Tim Sheens, John Skandalis, Wally Lewis, Gene Miles and Paul 'Nobby' Clarke.
Thursday, May 26 - Katoomba to Faulconbridge, 29km.
Friday, May 27 - Faulconbridge to Bluebet Stadium, Penrith, 19km.