A group from the Ballymun community has been “living at a gym” while raising funds for a charity that helps bereaved parents.
The fundraising group "moved into" the basketball court of Ballymun Comprehensive School last Friday in order to run four miles every four hours for 60 hours. The goal is to raise funds for Feileacain, an NGO that offers support to anyone affected by the death of a baby around the time of birth.
Event organiser Alan Kinsella said 47 people signed up for this year's challenge. A small number of the participants has sadly had to deal with Feileacain in the past. Mr Kinsella told Dublin Live: “We’re all living together for 60 hours... We started at 6am on Friday and we finish at 3pm [today]."
Mr Kinsella explained half the basketball court has been converted into a sleeping quarter while the other half has all the gym equipment they brought in. He said: "It's basically like a boot camp if you wanna say. It's like a camp style where people have bought in camp beds, blow-up beds, sleeping mats."
Their routine is pretty straightforward. "We set the alarm clock, we get up, we get our work done." Participants even get up to run at 2am. They mainly use the running track around the school but those that get tired can hop on a spinning bike or a rower if they like.
The group's initial target was €10,000 but at the time of writing they have actually hit €20,000. Half the money they are getting is through sponsor cards. With donations and a couple of raffles, they are hoping to hit €25,000 before the fundraising event ends at 3pm today.
Mr Kinsella said: “The area has been very, very supportive of us. Donations have been coming – local pizza shops, local takeaways and local grocery stores have been really looking after us.
"They’ve been sending over tea, coffee, water, energy drinks and food every couple of hours. It's a bit amazing. Every couple hours, the doors open and it's another donation coming through the door.”
To donate to the fundraiser, find their official iDonate page .
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