Munster and Ireland rugby star, Tommy O’Donnell, joined members of Over The Hill Cycling Club, last Wednesday August 10th, at the launch of the clubs latest fundraising efforts to raise €10,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Ireland.
The Over The Hill club, which is based in Watergrasshill, Co. Cork, will be participating in Race Around Ireland Challenge at the end of August – a 2,150km cycling route that travels around the whole island of Ireland. The club is asking members of the public to donate €5 and sponsor a km of the race. All funds raised will go to Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI) and the setting up of a fund for its transport service in the Southern Region.
Muscular Dystrophy Ireland which provides supports and services to people affected by muscle wasting conditions, and their families right across Ireland. MDI’s transport service offers members fully wheelchair accessible transport where personal or public transport is either unaffordable or unavailable. This can include transport for hospital appointments, one-off long distance journeys, or to and from airports or train stations.
Tommy O’Donnell, Munster Rugby & Ireland
Declan Brady, Pat O’Callaghan, Sean O’Flynn & Darren Revins, Over The Hill Cycling Club, Race Around Ireland Team
Joe Barry & Caleb Lane, MDI Members
Patrick Flanagan, MDI PR Coordinator
Speaking at the event, Tommy O’Donnell praised the efforts of both the Over the Hill Club and Muscular Dystrophy Ireland and called on as many people possible to help support the fundraising project.
“As a Munster rugby player, you always appreciate the value of maximum effort, and having a strong community of supporters behind you. The Over The Hill Club clearly have those values, seeing their achievement in the Race Around Ireland, as well as their fundraising efforts and the support those efforts receive from the local community. That the funds raised will go to an organisation like MDI, who are providing really important services directly to people in Cork, and across the south of Ireland, makes it so easy to support this cause and I hope that everyone gives what they can to help.”
Brian Atkinson from the Over the Hill Club echoed Tommy O’Donnell’s call for support, and put in to context their team’s efforts and achievements.
“The average age of our team, this year, is 56 years old, so you could say the lads are a bit over the hill themselves. That being said, the club finished in 1st place last year and 2nd to a professional cycle team in 2012 – our first time taking part. As well as the cycling, our club has done a lot of fundraising work and we hope to again support MDI and help raise funds for a bus that will benefit the members and people of this and other communities. I want to ask everyone to please give what they can to support MDI, and we greatly appreciate every donation big and small.”
The Race Around Ireland takes place on Sunday 28th August, more information is available at:
http://racearoundireland.com/
To donate to Over The Hill’s Race Around Ireland for MDI, go to:
www.mdi.ie or https://www.