Football

O'Donovan Rossa GAC cover 6,500 virtual miles in St John Ambulance fundraiser

Rossa chairwoman Margaret Flynn, Belfast Lord Mayor Danny Baker (a club member) and St John Ambulance volunteers outside Casement Park, the destination of the 32-county trek which was then extended to London and New York
Rossa chairwoman Margaret Flynn, Belfast Lord Mayor Danny Baker (a club member) and St John Ambulance volunteers outside Casement Park, the destination of the 32-county trek which was then extended to London and New York Rossa chairwoman Margaret Flynn, Belfast Lord Mayor Danny Baker (a club member) and St John Ambulance volunteers outside Casement Park, the destination of the 32-county trek which was then extended to London and New York

O’DONOVAN Rossa’s 34-county virtual journey from Belfast around Ireland and then London reached Gaelic Park in New York yesterday, raising over £7000 for St John Amburlance in the process.

The incredible fundraiser included young and old club members completing walks, runs, cycles and even swims and logging their distances. Their mileage was then passed on to the committee of the west Belfast club who had mapped out a route around every county ground in Ireland but the response was so positive that they decided to extend the journey to London’s Ruislip grounds and then across the Atlantic Ocean to The Bronx – a total distance of 6,500 kilometres.

“We have a health and well-being group and we saw that St John Ambulance were £100,000 in need so we thought: ‘How about we help them?’” explained club chairwoman Margaret Flynn.

“It just started from there. Suddenly we were organising, we mapped out the route and we got some players from each county to give us a bit of encouragement.”

Cork’s Joe Deane. Wexford’s Lee Chin, Paul Geaney (Kerry), Gerry Adams, Paddy Barnes and Belfast Lord Mayor Danny Baker were among those who offered their support. Another was American GAA enthusiast Josh Pray who offered his encouragement for the final leg of Rossa’s journey: “I’ve been told that they’re upping the ante and they want to cover the distance from Ireland to New York.

“I want to say: ‘Good job, way to go and I hope everybody in Belfast and all around the beautiful Emerald Isle offer up their support as well.”

In all almost 200 people participated in the virtual challenge using the Map My Run App, their FitBit or simply walking from landmark to landmark and recording the distance. One intrepid clubman even filled up a paddling pool in the back garden, tethered himself to a wheelie bin and set off swimming.

“Every day we, as a club, went out,” said Margaret.

“We’ve had a whole mix of things going on and people have been very inventive. Families have been going out for walks and recording the distances or cycling on towpaths but always very mindful of the restrictions that are out there at the moment.”

Originally the club set a fundraising target of £2,500 but the money, like the miles, continued to clock up and the Rossa committee set the bar higher and higher. Last night over £7,000 had been raised.

“We had miles left over from going around Ireland and then London so we thought: ‘What about going to New York?’ So they all got going again, new people got involved. It has been good for the club in a healthy way, physically and mentally, it has been lovely to see families doing it all together.

“It has been a whole big family affair from young kids in prams to teenagers on bikes. It has been across the board and it has been a lovely thing to be part of.

“We’ve had so many volunteers working all week and the most important thing is that we didn’t do it for self-glory, we’re doing it for St John Ambulance. They do need the money because a lot of their resources have been taken up – they can’t do first aid courses or go to matches so they can’t get paid and they are struggling.

“St John Ambulance are so close to the GAA, they do all our big matches and they do some courses for the club as well so we are more than happy to try and help them out.”

If you would like to contribute to the O’Donovan Rossa appeal, go to: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rossa32countychallenge