DETAILS OF THE 20th North-West 10k were unveiled at the official launch of the event this evening.
The 2016 North-West 10k takes place on Sunday, May 1st at 2pm.
The charities to benefit from this year’s event are The Irish Pilgrimage Trust – Donegal Branch; and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, Donegal Branch.
These were confirmed by the North-West 10k Chairman James Boyle at the launch in the Mount Errigal Hotel.
“We’re delighted to announce these two charities,” Mr Boyle said.
“We feel that we have two good, strong charities this year. We hope that it will raise the profile for the charities and give them a chance to raise further money.”
The Irish Pilgrimage Trust brings 500 young people with special needs from all over Ireland on a Pilgrimage Holiday to Lourdes at Easter each year and the Donegal Branch has been taking children and young people for the past 30 years.
The Trust also provides regular respite holidays during the year for young disabled people at specially designed houses in Galway and Wexford.
“We’re thrilled to be involved with the North West 10k – it’s a special year for us as we’re celebrating our 30th anniversary,” said Irish Pilgrimage Trust member Mary Dunnion.
“Each of our groups has to raise €14,500 just for that week. It’s the only respite for the families. We have 11 young people in each grounp, a leader, a nurse, a doctor and a chaplin as well as volunteers.
“The money goes directly to funding the young people. Respite services have been cut so much which means this is so important and we are so grateful to be involved.”
The Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, Donegal Branch supports families with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Their intention is to facilitate a respite location in Donegal for local and national families to enjoy a fully accessible, well planned mobile home on a beach front environment.
They aim to offer a convenient and affordable location for families and to bring new families into Donegal that would otherwise not venture this far.
“I am just a mammy and am just a volunteer with a wee boy of seven-and-a-half,”
Caroline Lafferty, vice chairperson for The Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, Donegal Branch said.
“What we envisage for the branch is that we could provide a respite for members, somewhere maybe on the Wild Atlantic Way. The challenge of parking, getting to the toilet and having a shower is a huge challenge, so we’d like to do something like that in Donegal.
“That’s our end goal and hopefully the 10k will take us some way towards that.”
The North-West 10k race director is Brendan McDaid and the race is again sponsored by Brian McCormick Sports and Leisure and Donegal Daily.
The North West 10k is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2016 and has raised nearly €710,000 for 31 charities to date.
“The North-West 10k has a long history of supporting charities and has built this into a massive fundraising vehicle for charities,” said Gerry McMonagle, the Mayor of the Letterkenny Municipal District, said.
The first 2000 entrants are guaranteed a 2016 20th anniversary North-West 10k t-shirt.
Pre-entries will be taken at the North-West 10k stand at the Letterkenny Community Centre on the following dates: Wednesday April 27th (5-6.30pm) and Saturday April 30th (3-6pm).
Entries will also being taken on the North-West 10k website – wwwnorthwest10k.com
Entry on the day will close at 1pm. Entry fees are €15 for the run and €10 for walkers. Under-18s are not permitted to enter as runners.
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