Three friends invite public to sneak peek training session ahead of Ireland to Croatia cycle fundraiser

Three Northside friends have invited the public to join them for a special training session this weekend ahead of their intense 2000 km cycle from Dublin to Croatia to raise money for three chosen charities close to their hearts. 

This October, James Hempton, Brian Foley, Daire Breen, (pictured above) all aged 26 from Donabate, Co Dublin will set off on the ‘Cycle2Croatia’ challenge to raise funds for LauraLynn Hospice, Mental Health Ireland and Diabetes Ireland.  They aim to raise an incredible €60,000 for their charities.

The friends are inviting the public to a sneak peek at one of their gruelling training sessions at Blanchardstown Centre this Saturday, 17th June and are kicking off the fundraising for their chosen charities.

The lads, who met in school and have been inseparable ever since.

Brian’s fiancé Rachel has been dealing with type 1 diabetes since she was 12 years of age and he is determined to spread awareness and support the people working tirelessly to help those with diabetes.

James is a trained mental health nurse and practices mental health coaching and awareness whilst training clients as a personal trainer. James strives to help spread awareness for Mental Health Ireland and the work that they do.

Daire chose Lauralynn as it is Ireland’s only children’s hospice and there is currently a need for 4 times the capacity that Lauralynn currently has. Blown away by the work that they do, he is determined to support their growth so they can help more and more families across Ireland.

Georgina Lawless, Fundraising Manager with Mental Health Ireland said; “We are delighted to be one of the chosen charities. The three lads are so dedicated to their mission to Cycle2Croatia and we will continue to support them on their journey. Their donation will be hugely appreciated and support us to continue running mental health trainings, supporting recovery, providing bursaries and lots more.”

Brian Darcy from the C2C team added: “We are really excited about the mission. So far, the training has been great, but we definitely need to ramp it up now as we get closer to October. Our charity partners have been so supportive and helped us set up this event in Blanchardstown Centre on 17th June. We are asking people to donate what they can to our cause so we can reach our goal of €60,000 and follow along our journey on Instagram (@Cycle2Croatia) and Tiktok (@Cycle2Croatia).”

Meet the Cycle2Croatia team this Saturday June 17th from 10am to 6pm at the on the green mall near Dunnes Stores supermarket in The Blanchardstown Centre.