The target is £15,000 but the team is looking to raise as much as possible from their hard efforts for the Forgotten Irish. With the start of the cycle Land’s End in just two days the team have already raised over £10,000 which is fantastic!
We’d like to thank everyone who has supported the fundraising efforts and Please Show Your Support if you haven’t done so already.
On Wednesday July 24th some of the cyclists along with The Ireland Fund of Great Britain visited the Southwark Irish Pensioners Project to present them with a cheque for £10,000.
Cyclists Bernard McEvoy, Neill Shrimpton and Ben Williams from the law firm Brown Rudnick and Michael O’Driscoll from RTE who is the Chef D’Equipe (or logistics man) for the cycle attended the presentation and tour of Southwark Irish Pensioners Project.
From the fundraising efforts of the team they hope to raise over £15,000 for projects like the Southwark Irish Pensioners Project who are supported under the Forgotten Irish campaign.
In the last number of years the Southwark Irish Pensioners Project has had a drop in funding due to cuts made by the council. The Southwark Irish Pensioners Project works with some of the most disadvantaged and isolated elderly Irish people in London. The work they do is vital for the vulnerable people in our community. The Ireland Fund of Great Britain was delighted to be in a position to help support them by donating £10,000 due to the wonderful work they do in both their centre and in their outreach work.
Remember you can donate at www.justgiving.com/1039miles
Headed by Bernard McEvoy and Neill Shrimpton, both partners at Brown Rudnick LLP and members of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, a team of 7 cyclists will set off from Land’s End in Cornwall this Sunday 25th of August and in just 10 days will have cycled the length of Britain all the way up to John O’Groats in Scotland.
The team are taking on the challenge to fundraise for The Ireland Fund of Great Britain’s Forgotten Irish Campaign.
In 2007 The Ireland Fund of Great Britain commissioned unique research in order to identify, locate and quantify the numbers of vulnerable and elderly Irish in the UK. From this research, Peter Sutherland, Patron of The Ireland Fund of Great Britain, and President Mary McAleese launched the Forgotten Irish campaign aimed at raising awareness and substantial funds for the vulnerable and elderly Irish community in the UK.
Most of the Forgotten Irish came to Britain in the second half of the twentieth century, during one of the darkest and most impoverished periods of Ireland’s history. They paved the way for more recent generations of Irish immigrants to Britain. The majority came to find work and sent billions of pounds home to their families. Thousands of others came to escape the hardship, marginalisation and all too often, the abuse of institutional life. Many are still here, often living in isolation, poverty and deprivation – without the support of friends or family.
On why they want to support the Forgotten Irish Bernard says that “having watched a number of programmes on the Forgotten Irish I was and am always moved by the conditions that some Irish people are living in. A number of close relations of my parents came to the UK in the 50’s and 60’s. For those who have been ‘forgotten’ I believe we, as a nation, owe them something better.”
To show your support please visit http://www.justgiving.com/1039miles and keep an eye on this blog for updates.
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