Red Sky Ride continues to raise money for Solaris Cancer Care

Each year a group of riders make the journey from Perth to Bunbury to raise money to help volunteers provide services to support cancer patients and their carers.

The 43 riders left the Solaris Cottesloe support centre on March 3 and drove through the Ferguson Valley before stopping at Bunbury and then returning back to Perth on March 6.

This year there was added meaning to the event, with the reveal of a memorial scultpure for long time Bunbury volunteer Brian Kennedy.

Solaris Cancer Care Bunbury shared manager Carline Turner said Brian had been part of the centre in some shape or form since it opened in 2010.

Mr Kennedy went through cancer himself and went to Solaris for meditation.

But he also started maintaining the garden, which became his 'sanctuary' Ms Turner said.

She said Mr Kennedy would always welcome the Red Sky Riders and joke with them about making them have a drug test.

Mr Kennedy unfortunately passed away last year, so in honour of his dedication to Solaris Care the kineseology group put in money to have a sculpture made which can be placed in the rose garden.

"We miss him so much, he was always full of life," Ms Turner said.

The sculpture was kindly made by local business Rust-Art.

Solaris Cancer Care is a community-based healthcare organisation. Its cancer support centres are the first of their kind in Australia and offer support, information, education, and complementary therapies to cancer patients and their primary cancer.

Solaris founder and chair Professor David Joske said the service's aim was to ensure cancer patients State-wide could be supported, either face-to-face or through outreach programs.

"We know that regional patients across the board suffer poorer health outcomes, and that isolation is a factor in mental health," he said.

"This is why it has been important to us to encourage individuals from all corners of our State to use our services, either face-to face or via our outreach programs."

In WA, more than 13,300 people are diagnosed with cancer each year, a disease which causes three in every 10 deaths in the State.

Solaris delivers $1.74 million of health care services in complementary therapies free each year.

It receives minimal ongoing financial support from government, relying on the generous support of the WA community.

So far this year, the riders have raised more than $222,000 for Solaris.