Six Papua New Guineans will participate in a life-changing experience when they travel to Queensland to take on the Gold Coast Airport Marathon this July as part of The Salvation Army’s Hope and a Future Project.

The project, initiated in 2014, offers young people from Papua New Guinea the opportunity to develop in to future leaders in their country by building self-belief and developing new skills through training for and running in Australia’s leading marathon.

The Salvation Army Aged Care Plus CEO Sharon Callister said due to current conditions in Papua New Guinea, such as high unemployment and significant poverty, young people were not provided opportunities to become role models in their communities.

“Last year we did a lot of work with The Salvation Army in Papua New Guinea and aimed to do more projects focussed on the younger demographic within the church,” Ms Callister said.

“We developed the Hope and a Future Project with the goal of providing young people in the country education and leadership opportunities as well as life changing experiences such as running a marathon.

“We’ve chosen this group based on their leadership potential in their nation. The group of individuals have quiet personalities but become more confident during and after the transformational experience at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon.”

Ms Callister said two members from last year’s group of eight who completed the 42.195 kilometre distance have taken on mentoring roles to assist with training the group in Port Moresby.

“Two outstanding individuals from last year’s group are now mentors and provide constant motivation and leadership on the ground,” Ms Callister said.

“The two members have plenty of first-hand experience and are able to reinforce key aspects of what it takes to run a marathon such as respecting the distance and the importance of building a solid training base.

“They have to give up their own time to help the current group but they find it to be an extremely rewarding experience as they’re able to implement their leadership skills developed last year.”

The Salvation Army are encouraging the public to support the group by inviting them to run alongside the team, cheer from the sidelines or donate to the cause via Everyday Hero.

“We have a large group who are coming along to support the team when they land on the Gold Coast in July. They will either be running alongside the team in the full marathon, racing in another event or encouraging from the sidelines,” Ms Callister said.

“Fundraising is also critical in providing them with adequate training resources and flying the group to Australia to take part in the marathon.”

To donate to the Hope and a Future Project visit gcam2015.everydayhero.com/au/salvos-striders

For more information about the Hope and a Future Project visit www.agedcareplus.salvos.org.au/hope-and-a-future

The Gold Coast Airport Marathon will be held on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July in one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world in Queensland, Australia.

It is set to attract more than 27,000 participants of all ages and abilities across a number of events including the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Wheelchair Marathon, ASICS Half Marathon, Wheelchair 15km, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Suncorp Bank 5.7km Challenge and Junior Dash 4km & 2km races.

To enter or for more information visit goldcoastmarathon.com.au