Two Galway lads are preparing to embark on a 2,500km cycle along our rugged Atlantic coast to raise money for Jigsaw, the youth mental health charity.
Graham Hendrick and Shane Reynolds will undertake the challenge in September and hope to raise over €11,000 for Jigsaw.
The cycle should last a total of 16-days and they will pass seven counties on their long-distance journey.
On their official fundraising page, they say: “It will forever be implanted within us during our time within college, where nearly on a weekly basis a young person went missing or committed suicide which is so tragic when you consider they had their whole lives ahead them yet.”
Jigsaw is a charity organisation with support centres across Ireland, and what appealed to Shane and Graham about the charity was their emphasis on early intervention and prevention.
Although it offers a range of services to those suffering, it also works hard to prevent others from ever having to undergo such experiences.
Jigsaw does this through education- teaching people the signs to look out for, and techniques for dealing with issues if they do arise.
“To get the ball rolling, the both of us applied for the “Cycle to work scheme” and after quite a number of weeks we finally got accepted and collected our bikes locally from Barry Cycles in Ballinasloe.
“Seeing as the two of us were complete amaeuters, Barry did help us a lot with the whole mechanics of the bike and proper cycling techniques, and eventually we even learned how to change a punctured tire. But we really cannot credit him enough as he have always been there to assist us when needed.”
The charity cycle is due to begin on 8 Septmeber, so they have just under 3 months left to train and fund-raise.
Support the charity cycle by clicking HERE.
