Close to €2,000 already raised in 12-day walking fundraiser underway in Kilkenny

Close to €2,000 has already been raised through a fundraiser for the Irish Red Cross that’s underway locally.

The organisation’s Ukraine appeal’s to benefit from the 12-day walking event which aims to visit all 41 GAA clubs across Kilkenny. (Schedule here).

It got underway on Saturday with donations being pledged online via Kilkenny Supporters for Ukraine on iDonate. (Details and donate here).

It’s being undertaken by Tommy Maher from Lisdowney, who’s a member of the Kilkenny GAA Supporters Club and a retired teacher from Clontubrid National School.

He’s being joined at stages by supporters and at lunchtime told KCLR News that, so far, things are good; “Yeah, we’re going well, when I left home this morning I looked online and I think we were near enough to the 2,000 mark since Saturday so that’s a great start, a positive start and I’m on Day Three here, we started this morning in The Railyard and onto Coon and I’m at altitude here between Coon and Muckalee so we’re heading down to Muckalee and then back to Conahy and we’re finishing slightly early this evening so that people can get away to the match in Carlow”.

Tommy’s carrying a hurl with him which is used at each stop to score a point by a club representative who’ll also sign it.

“We’re finishing on Saturday week in Nowlan Park during the Kilkenny Wexford game and the plan is for the last score to be scored in Nowlan Park and Eddie Keher has agreed to do that and sign the hurl so he’ll be the last name on the hurl and the county board as well have agreed to invite all Ukrainian refugees in County Kilkenny to Nowlan Park on that day as their guests, that’s a lovely gesture on their part and we in the Supporters Club are very grateful to the County Board for that gesture, it’s a nice thought”.