Tullamore boxer Grainne backs Fight for the Girls campaign

Local boxer Gráinne Walsh of Spartacus Boxing club took time out of her hectic training schedule for the upcoming European Women’s Elite championship to support the Breakthrough Cancer Research’s ‘Fight for the Girls’ campaign.

The campaign is asking gyms and clubs across Ireland to hold a class in aid of cancer research this autumn and join the fight against cancers affecting women. all proceeds will go towards finding new treatment options for the leading cancers affecting women, such as ovarian cancer.

Gráinne, a member of the Spartacus Boxing club in Tullamore, is part of an eight-strong squad who will compete in the European
Women’s Elite championship in Sofia, Bulgaria from November 14 to 24. Also part of the squad are Donna Barr, Shauna O’Keeffe and Christina Desmond.

The squad have completed a training camp at the Irish Institute of Sport in Abbotstown and at the Institute of Sport in Sheffield, UK.

Orla Dolan, Fundraising Director with Breakthrough, said she was “delighted” that Gráinne and her fellow members of the Irish Women’s Elite team are supporting their ‘Fight for the Girls’ campaign. “With 360 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and 276 women dying from the disease, more treatment options are urgently needed. While there have been many advances in the diagnosis and treatment of many other cancers, ovarian cancer has had little improvement in its prognosis over the last 20 years. That’s why campaigns such as Fight for the Girls and the support of Irish Women’s Elite Team are so important as we need to do more to ensure that women have more treatment options and a better survival rate for this disease,” said Orla.

Orla continued: “I’d like to wish Donna, Shauna, Gráinne and Christina all the best in the upcoming championship. They are already
champions to us for supporting this campaign and helping raise much needed funds for research into cancers affecting women.
“You can join the Irish Women’s Elite Squad and support the Fight for the Girls campaign by holding a fitness classes in exchange
for a donation or add €2 from your classes such as Boxercise or Spinning or the month of November and December,” Orla added.

To get involved call 021 4226655 or email Jesse@breakthroughcancerresearch.ie