From marathons in their estates, to birthday celebrations with a twist, to solos, cycles and more, children and young people across Ireland have been challenging themselves to help raise vital funds to keep ISPCC Childline listening throughout this period of Covid-19 and beyond.
Childline is always here for every child and young person in Ireland, to talk about anything which may be on their mind. This is made possible with thanks to public support. Childline relies on donations for 90 per cent of its funding, so it hugely appreciates the generosity of people the length and breadth of Ireland who have been donating their time and talents to help make sure it is always here to listen.
Dylan and Alison Dickson, from Glaslough, County Monaghan, are just two of the many families who are conquering a mission to remember – and having fun along the way too. Dylan (9) (pictured above), a pupil of St. Mary’s Primary School, is cycling the 640km distance from Malin to Mizen Head with his mammy, all within a two kilometre radius of their home. He is learning about all the places they would pass through if they were physically travelling the route too.
Evan Grant
Pokemon fan Evan Grant, aged 8, has also gotten on his bike for Childline. The second class pupil at Maynooth Boys National School, County Kildare, has set himself a target of cycling 100 kilometres around Maynooth University in just eight weeks with his mum and dad. His new baby brother has even been cheering him on too!
When Ruby Mitchell turned six recently, she decided to make a big difference for children and young people by doing six different things in six seconds and donating €6 to Childline. She put the call out to people of all ages to join in her birthday fun by taking on the six-second challenge and seeing what they could achieve too – all to help raise important funds to keep Childline listening.
Iris and Sebastian Moore
Siblings Sebastian (9) and Iris (7) Moore of Sandymount, Dublin, showed anything is possible when they ran a marathon around their block in just two weeks. They even transformed their kitchen into their operations headquarters, where they marked up their progress and tracked the funds they were raising through a number of online channels. Their friend Carlos Culligan was inspired by Sebastian and Iris’ progress to complete a marathon of his own around UCD, while Tadhg McDonald also took on the challenge to run a marathon in May.
Not to be outdone by the younger generation, people of all ages across all parts of Ireland have been lacing up their running shoes, exploring their home or their outdoor surroundings, getting their friends and family on board from a distance and smashing their targets to make a difference for Childline.
MKL Gaels
Wexford man Odhran Murphy raised a phenomenal sum by running a marathon in his estate, Leitrim man Shane Bohan completed 100 press-ups every day for seven days and now mid-Kerry ladies football club MKL Gaels will challenge themselves to complete one million solos on Sunday May 31st in a bid to help make sure children do not have to tackle their challenges solo.
Whatever age you are, wherever you live, why not set yourself a challenge this summer to help make sure Childline will always be here for children and young people? We would love to see how you get on! If you are sharing your progress on social media with the permission of anybody featured in your photographs or videos, you can tag @ISPCCChildline (Facebook / Twitter) or @ISPCC_Childline (Instagram).
Best of luck – and thank you!
You are helping to make an incredible difference for children and young people right across Ireland.
Childline is always here for children and young people. See Childline.ie
