London2Mayo tractor run fund-raiser

The planned London2Mayo tractor run fund-raiser is the culmination of a story that began three years ago. In October 2017, a small group of people came together from the Kiltimagh, Kilkelly, Swinford and Bohola areas of Co. Mayo, in the Republic of Ireland, to devise an event that could raise much-needed money for the Special Care Baby Unit at Mayo University Hospital, in Castlebar, and Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin.

A committee was put together, many meetings were held and phone calls made until the idea of a tractor run was decided upon. This seemed a fitting solution, as many of the committee members hailed from an agricultural background. After lengthy discussions about possible start and finish points, it was decided that the run would follow a route between Dublin and Mayo.

The aim was to raise €10,000 (€5,000 for each hospital) and, after much planning, the adventure began on March 30^th, 2018, as 30 tractors left Dublin, heading for Mayo.

A colossal total of €96,000 was raised, with €48,000 for each charity – but the team didn’t rest on its laurels, and set about planning for a repeat of the run in 2019, when 196 tractors took to the roads and raised an astonishing €196,000.

In 2020, the route will be longer – from London to Mayo – and will be run in aid of the Cancer Fund for Children’s Capital Appeal, raising funds to build Daisy Lodge in Cong, Co. Mayo. This will be a respite centre for children with cancer, which needs full fundraising. At present, there’s only one such centre in Newcastle, Co. Down, which sees some 500 families using the service annually.

Cancer Fund for Children can only provide one-in-seven families from the Republic of Ireland with a short break, which is why it has made the decision to build a second Daisy Lodge in Cong, Co. Mayo. It envisages that the building of Daisy Lodge, will commence in the next 18-24 months, during which time it will continue to raise €14.5m.

The route for ‘London2Mayo’ has been planned, fundraising and sponsorship has commenced and the crew is ready to complete the run, which will happen over six days, starting at The Claddagh Ring in London, sailing from Liverpool to Belfast, before travelling to Daisy Lodge, in Co. Down, then on to the Daisy Lodge site in Cong, and finishing in Kilkelly, Co. Mayo.

For further information on corporate sponsorship, donating, or entering the raffle for your chance of winning a Renault Clio, please visit: charitytractorrun.com

 

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