A NORTHSIDE-BASED charity has heaped praise on a local man who undertook a major challenge to raise funds for its services.
Richie O’Leary, from Coolock, supported by BT Ireland, recent walked 175km from Belfast to Dublin to raise funds for Blossom Ireland.
Richie, the proud father of Amy who has special needs and attends Blossom Ireland camps, took on the challenge to ensure that more children like Amy can access the charity’s camps and programmes.
Speaking about the Belfast to Dublin walk, Auveen Bell, chief executive and co-founder of Blossom Ireland, based in Raheny, said: “We were thrilled when Richie told us he would take on this mammoth walk for us. One hundred and seventy-five km over four days is the equivalent of one marathon per day.
“Richie works for BT Ireland who has been hugely supportive of the work Blossom do.
“All funds raised will go towards providing camps and programmes for children with special needs.”
Blossom Ireland was set-up in 2010 by two mums passionate in the belief that their sons with special needs deserve the same opportunities as all children.
The organisation has grown from its initial offering of a few weeks of services in the summer to a year round programme of holiday and life skills programmes for children and teens with special needs from 8–18-years-of-age.
Their work has received awards from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and has been independently assessed by a team from Trinity College.
For more information on the charity, visit www.blossomireland.ie
