Two employees of Jigsaw will undertake a 72-hour motorcycle rally this month, which will see them visiting every Jigsaw location in the country to raise funds for the youth mental health charity.
Damian Sheridan and Daryl D’Art will set off from Lidl Belgard Tallaght on July 28 at 9.15am and will go on to visit 16 Jigsaw hubs across the country over 72 hours, covering 1,200km.
They plan to reach Letterkenny on the evening of July 28th, where they will be greeted by the service manager Damien Coyle.
Damian Sheridan, who works as a facilities officer for the charity was inspired to raise funds for the charity after reading a heart-warming handwritten letter from a young boy.
“I remember helping out with the post during the pandemic, and one handwritten letter we received has been etched into my mind,” said Damian.
“A 12-year-old boy wrote a letter. In it, he thanked Jigsaw for making his sister happy again, which he said made all his family happy.
“He said his family had so much to look forward to now. He explained in the letter that he collected wood that he found from the ground at the forest near where he lived.
“He cut it up and sold it as firewood in his local community. To the best of my memory, he raised nearly €300 which he donated to Jigsaw, thanking them for everything they had done for his sister.
“This, to me, was a powerful message of the work Jigsaw does – not only for young people struggling with mental health, but the effect it has on the whole family.”
This spurred Damian on to fundraise for Jigsaw, with his fundraiser combining his love of motorcycling with his passion for the work that Jigsaw does.
His colleague Daryl D’Art, who works as an IT officer for Jigsaw, was only too happy to join the challenge.
When asked how preparations are going, Damian said: “I’m a keen motorcyclist, so my day-to-day travel to and from work is on a motorbike. The motorcycle community is special, there is something happening every month to raise funds for various causes. If you’re not raising money, we’re meeting for spins mid-week or weekends. There is not a week without being on the motorcycle.
“Jigsaw have locations from Dublin to Tullamore, Letterkenny, Cork and everywhere in between, so it’s a long distance. We were going to try to do it in 24 hours, but we peeled it back to 72 hours.” We’re hoping to get local motorcyclists to meet us at each hub for a group photo before we shooter off to the next location. I have set up a page on Facebook “The Grand Tour Photo Challenge” where all details of the event can be found
The duo recently set up an online fundraiser on iDonate.ie, under the heading Jigsaw Photo Rally 2022, which has already raised over €3,360.
“This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this, and the response to it has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Damian.
“Lidl got behind it and they’re sponsoring it. Chartered accountants Merry Mullin are sponsoring the fuel costs, Karl Goodwin Motors has sponsored a stage of the event. We have two stages left for sponsorship if any companies want to get involved and loads of local businesses have donated raffle prizes.
“All of the funds raised will be given to Jigsaw in a general donation, it’ll go in with the overall funding they receive. We haven’t requested for it to go into one specific area.”
Damian and Daryl will travel to, and take photos at, every one of Jigsaw’s 16 locations around the country over the course of 72 hours, starting on July 28. The fundraiser can be tracked via this link: https://www.facebook.com/The-Grand-Tour-Photo-Challenge-106177615480249/
Donation can be made via this link: https://www.idonate.ie/event/3672_jigsaw-photo-rally-2022.html
