Tour de Munster 2014 ‘Shares the Journey’ with Down Syndrome Ireland

26 April 2014

Tour de Munster, the annual four day charity cycle which sees amateur cyclists travelling over 600km, announced Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) as its chosen beneficiary of this year’s cycle.  To celebrate this occasion, members from the various DSI Munster branches joined some of the Tour de Munster 2014 cyclists at a special charity fundraiser, hosted by Ballyseedy Home & Garden Centre in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on Saturday 26th April. 

 

This is the 5th year that this much loved national charity has been the beneficiary of Tour de Munster and it sees the ‘dream team’ pairing up again for such a fantastic cause – with all proceeds going to DSI Munster branches. Tour de Munster 2014 will take place throughout the province from Thursday 7thth to Sunday 10th August 2014, with over 100 cyclists cycling through the six counties over the four days.

 

Having raised over €1 million over the past four years for DSI, Tour de Munster has developed close ties with DSI, with many parents and friends participating in the cycle. Everyone is hoping to break the €1.25 million mark raised in total, despite a very challenging economic drop back.

On top of cycling the grueling 600km journey, Jude O’ Keeffe also organises the scores of volunteer bucket collectors and many of the cyclists too. The DSI Fundraiser is delighted that DSI has been chosen for the 5th year in a row.

Jude said “This is the fifth year now to be chosen as Tour de Munster’s beneficiary and it’s fantastic! The level of support that we receive is just incredible. From last year’s event a total of €270,000 was raised in aid of the DSI Munster branches and we are appealing to the public to continue their greatly appreciated support this year. The funds that we raise change the lives of people with Down syndrome in Munster as well as those of their families and friends. All participants pay their own costs and all monies raised go towards providing vital services and facilities in each county. In addition to the funds, it’s a complete sense of community, you make friends for life through the experience and every parish really comes together for it, making it strength in numbers for speaking out about why these funds are so desperately needed for our children.”

 

Jude also stated “Through the great work of the Tour de Munster cyclists, more people with Down syndrome, young and old, will be helped in a practical way.  This all requires a lot of funding however and we rely on the generosity of the public to help us with this.  Our goal in DSI is to assist children born with Down syndrome to be as independent as possible. To achieve this, it is imperative that when they are young they have access to speech therapy and occupational therapy and as they grow older we want to help them with other areas of their lives such as independent living and employment opportunities. The overall objective is to ensure that each individual can develop to his/her full potential and to help people with Down syndrome make their own futures as bright and independent as possible.”

 

 Tour de Munster organiser Paul Sheridan is already in training for the event and is looking forward to it. Paul said “we are reminded each time we meet these wonderful children that we are working towards a very worthy cause.  We all have a chance to lend a helping hand through the Tour's fundraising effort, and we are deeply committed to supporting them by helping to raise funds for vital therapy and training. Down Syndrome Ireland is a very worthy beneficiary and over the last four years we have received a huge amount of support from both the charity and families themselves who will benefit from the event. We are privileged to be able to help in our small way and appeal to the generous people of Munster to help us fundraise for very special people”.

 

In addition Paul stated “We’re really grateful to everyone who has got behind Tour de Munster over the past 14 years. The companies who have been involved, both old and new have done fantastic work, not to mention the public for their incredible generosity. We continue to rely on the general public immensely, and as the DSI slogan suggests, we invite them to ‘Share the Journey’ with us”.

 

Tour de Munster 2014 begins in Waterford on Thursday 7th August and continues over four days until Sunday 10th August 2014, finishing on Patrick’s Hill in Cork city. For up to date information and developments on the Tour please log onto www.tourdemunster.com or you can follow the Tour on twitter @tourdemunster.  For further information on Down Syndrome Ireland please see www.downsyndrome.ie