A LOUGHANURE woman who undertook a 365 day walking challenge last year to raise money for an ‘Oasis of Peace’ sculpture in Gweedore has embarked on a new challenge.
Brid ‘Winnie’ Sweeney, a native of Dore, started her latest mammoth daily walking challenge on Saturday to raise funds for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
Last year’s target (€10,000) was raised inside two months and the peace sculpture and garden of remembrance was unveiled in Gweedore last month.
“It’s great to see the sculpture and garden open but I decided that I wanted to keep going while I have the mental health and my feet can take me walking.
I find that it really helps me to de-stress as between Covid and one thing and another we tend to let too many things get in our way at the moment.
“I walk every day. It could be at half five in the morning before I go to work, during my lunch-break at work or in the evening time after I get home,” she said.
Working as a receptionist with RAP in Gaoth Dobhair, Brid and her friend Ella Byrne complete a 6k loop around Loughanure most evenings.
A mother of two grown-up children, Brid has lost two nephews and a God-son in tragic circumstances over the past six years.
“I hope to have Ella on board once more this year. I’m raising money for Kevin Bell for personal reasons. They help families in times of sadness and help ensure that loved ones who died outside Ireland are looked after and brought safely home,” she said.
The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust aims to alleviate the financial hardship of bereaved families repatriating the body of loved ones who have died abroad in sudden or tragic circumstances back to Ireland.
“I set up an Idonate page in recent days and, hopefully, I’ll be able to raise a few euro for a very worthy cause in 2022 while keeping fit at the same time,” she said.
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