When Marko Doig's father died suddenly and unexpectedly five years ago, he was just six years old.
His mother, Elena Dimcesvka, quickly discovered how incomprehensible grief could be for a young child - and how much it could change them.
"He went from being this really outgoing, super positive kid to just withdrawing within himself - and that was really a bit of an alarm bell for me because I felt like I was losing him," she said.
Lost for what to do, Elena was introduced through a colleague to Feel the Magic, a support service specialising in child grief and bereavement.
Feel the Magic was founded six years ago by James Thomas after the passing of his own mother - not yet 31, he had then lost both parents and found the pain almost unbearable.
"When a child loses a parent or sibling, they become part of a club - but it's a club that no one chooses to join and it's not fun to be a part of," he said.
James started Feel the Magic to provide children with an environment where they didn't feel alone in their grief and one where they felt they could thrive and succeed despite their loss.
Their signature program, Camp Magic, sends kids aged seven to 17 away for a weekend where they were paired up with a mentor, who guided them through activities and taught them resources to deal with their grief.
When Elena picked Marko up from his first Camp Magic, she could already see a transformation.
"After that first camp alone I felt like I got my boy back. He was in such high spirits, he was really outgoing again. He'd made all these friends and he'd grown so close to his mentor," she said.
Marko didn't remember much from the first camp, just how opened up he felt afterwards and how keen he was to get to the next one.
"They taught me so many different strategies to cope with my grief and I feel like I've just become a different person to what I'd be if I hadn't gone to the camps," he said.
Like everything, Camp Magic was a long-term project. Marko's mentor Anthony Chesler said it took Marko quite some time before he was confident telling his friends or teachers at school.
"He didn't feel confident at the time to share with his school friends why his dad couldn't come to a Father's Day presentation or a school event so he would always find a way to make an excuse," he said.
Through the benefit of multiple camps and building a strong relationship with Anthony, Marko was able to go beyond just sharing his story with his school friends, even entering the Rostrum ACT Primary Schools Speaking Competition to share his story on a much larger platform.
Because continuity was so important for bereaved children in the program, Feel the Magic had organised a charity bike ride - The Magic Ride - in a bid to fund 60 camp trips for children whose families couldn't afford the cost.
The 500km ride started at Cooma on Thursday and snaked through the Snowy Mountains for four days before the 29 riders were set to arrive at Camp Magic ACT today. The ride had already smashed its $90,000 fundraising target.
Anthony, who was taking part in the charity ride, spoke to The Canberra Times before the first day and said he was "super excited" and thrilled that Marko and Elena would be there to cheer him on.
"[Marko is] a very confident kid, he's got a really good sense of humour but he understands what's happened and that's what's really important," Anthony said.
"As a mentor you're not there to solve any problems. You're really just there to comfort them, spend some time with them and simply listen."
