A Donegal businessman is going more than the extra mile for charity after undertaking to do five marathons in five days!
Terry Hughes, the proprietor of TJ Hughes Service Station on the Belleek Ballyshannon border, is currently running from Ballyshannon to Dublin.
He started yesterday and finishes with the Dublin Marathon on Sunday.
Terry is taking on this huge challenge in a bid to raise €10,000 for the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation.
Terry’s route will take him to Florencecourt, then onto Cavan, Kells, Dunboyne finishing up in Dublin.
He has been training every day, both on the roads and in the gym.
Terry said “The Jack & Jill Foundation is a charity which is special to me. I was lucky enough to learn more about it at a conference and it really struck a chord with me that there’s no state support available for children born with severe development issues – my own child has diabetes and in comparison we have all the support in the world – so I felt it was important to do my bit. Running the 5 marathons in 5 days is also a huge physical challenge for me.
“I’ll certainly not have too many opportunities to do something like this in the future, but I’m delighted that I’ll have some local runners accompanying me on stretches along the route, and I’ll have volunteers to cycle a rickshaw to carry all the essentials along the way. I’ve already held a fundraising day, bingo and coffee morning for Jack & Jill – and people were really supportive and very generous, but I still have some way to go to hit the €10,000 target, so I urge everyone to dig deep and donate what they can to help me support this fantastic cause.”
The Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation provides much needed nursing care & direct funding to families of children from birth to 4 years old with severe neurological development issues throughout Ireland, enabling them to take a break from the daily marathon of caring their sick child. The service which is nationwide, with no waiting list and operates 365 days a year, delivered by a network of over 1,000 nurses also includes end of life care.
Jonathan Irwin, CEO said that on behalf of the 300 children and their families under their wing, he wanted to wish Terry the very best of luck with this huge challenge.
“One marathon is enough for most people, but Terry is doing five, and I have to take my hat off to him for that! It is champions like Terry that keep Jack & Jill going every year, and the fact that we support children all along his route, including 6 in Donegal, 4 in Cavan, 10 in Meath and 69 in Dublin just shows the reach of Jack & Jill, having supported over 2,000 families since 1997, families in every community, families who will be reminded that they don’t walk their pathway alone, as people like Terry are willing to get out and run to support them.
“We hope the road stretches out ahead of him and there’s a gentle wind on his back and I would remind people that every €16 raised by Terry funds 1 hour of home nursing care for a sick child.”
If you would like to make a donation, please check out Terry’s details on www.jackandjill.ie or https://www.facebook.com/TJ-Hughes-Service-Station-212679015471562/
Tags: