(Submitted photo/the Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation)

By Angela Brown

Cross-country rally and fundraiser

Rolling Barrage hopes to raise awareness of PTSD in veterans

Apr 12, 2024 | 2:18 PM

A large rally of supporters will be riding their motorbikes through the Battlefords this summer to increase awareness about the issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), impacting veterans and first responders.

The Rolling Barrage tour will stop in North Battleford on Aug. 11 for a morning break at the Discovery Co-op Mall Parking Lot, off Territorial Drive. The cross-country tour will start in Newfoundland July 25 and wrap up in B.C. on Aug. 17. The rally will also stop in Cut Knife.

The event is also a fundraiser.

The group are encouraging people and businesses to come out and show their support when they’re in the local area, and help with a donation or some bottles of water for the riders, if they can.

“Our goal is to include as many participants as possible,” local participant Brian Picard said. “Participants may be riders. They may be individuals or groups, encouraging the riders from the sidelines, and they may be sponsors and partners.”

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The group are also looking for businesses that might want to help with fuel, food, however they are able, along the way, to show their support for the cause.

The Rolling Barrage was started eight years ago, by founder Scott Casey, with just seven riders. Today there are over 4,500 riders in the group. During their annual ride, the group stops at many Legions along the way.

From Battleford, Picard is both a veteran and a rider. He also suffers from PTSD himself, so he understands how important the cause is.

(Submitted photo/the Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation)

Picard said more needs to be done to raise awareness of PTSD in Canada.

“We’re getting nothing but roadblocks with Veterans Affairs,” he said, adding there have been many issues making it difficult for veterans struggling with PTSD looking for support. “Our goal [with the rally] is to raise as much awareness as physically possible, with as many people as physically possible across the country, so [people] know and understand what’s going on.”

Picard is also the assistant representative for the Rolling Barrage in Saskatchewan.

He served in Afghanistan and Kosovo before later retiring from the Canadian Forces in 2011, after being with the forces for 26 years. As a PTSD sufferer, he knows what others with this life-long disability are going through.

“Everybody’s PTSD is different,” Picard said. “Most of my PST is Kosovo-related.”

Picard hopes to see many people stand in the streets with their Canadian flags to welcome the riders, “and wave us through,” when the rally passes through the many towns along the route.

“The amount of people that come out on the streets, wave and greet us. It’s amazing. It just brings tears to your eyes,” Picard said.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @battlefordsnow