Pat Colgan cycle challenge raises €12k for Kidney Association and Hospice

Over 300 cyclists and their supporters from all over Ireland turned out for the Pat Colgan Pedal the Peaks Challenge, which has raised €12,000 for the Offaly Hospice Foundation and the Offaly Branch of the Irish Kidney Association.

Since 2016, the charity challenge has raised close to €40,000 for the Irish Kidney Association.

The event, which has taken place for over two decades, was this year held on Sunday, August 28. It offered cyclists a choice of four different challenge routes from the Tullamore Harriers Athletics Club to the magnificent Slieve Bloom Mountains, taking in picturesque countryside and villages in Laois and Offaly.

The challenge was the culmination of months of preparation by Tullamore Touring and Cycling Club, whose focus is to stage an enjoyable and successful event, raise funds for charity, while continuing to honour the memory of the late Pat Colgan, a deceased former member cycling club who was the inspiration for the creation of the annual Challenge following a fatal cycling accident in 1998.

Two cheque presentations for €6,000 were made by Dermot Milner, Chairman of the TCTC to the Offaly Hospice and the Offaly Branch of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) at the Tullamore Court Hotel on Wednesday, November 2. Gratefully accepting the proceeds on behalf of the Offaly branch of the IKA was Tullamore local Dermot Glynn, a kidney transplant recipient and member of the Offaly branch of the Irish Kidney Association.

Prof. Humphrey O’Connor and Edward Delahunt accepted the other cheque for €6,000 on behalf of Offaly Hospice Foundation.

At the cheque presentation Dermot Glynn said, "On behalf of the Offaly branch of the Irish Kidney Association and its Branch Chairman Jerome Burke, who could not be here tonight due to illness, I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude the Tullamore Cycling and Touring Club and all the sponsors and supporters of the Pat Colgan Pedal the Peaks Challenge for shining a light on the work of the Irish Kidney Association.

"As a patient organisation and charity, the Irish Kidney Association advocates for and provides financial support to the renal community of more than 5,000 kidney patients and their families in Ireland and it is also the organisation charged with the promotion and distribution of the organ donor card in Ireland.

"We are truly grateful to the Cycling Club for the considerable sum of close to €40,000 that it has raised since 2016 for the Irish Kidney Association through Pedal the Peaks and this greatly assists the IKA in providing vital support to benefit kidney patients in Offaly and beyond."

It was in 2015 when Dermot Glynn first brought the idea to Donagh McArdle, the then PRO of the Tullamore Cycling and Touring Club to direct some of its fundraising for the Pat Colgan Pedal the Peaks Challenge to the IKA’s Offaly Branch. Every year since then, the TCTC has continued to choose the IKA’s Offaly branch as one of the charities to benefit from the proceeds.

Sinéad Molloy, PRO for the club, explained, “Since we first collaborated with the IKA Offaly branch, its members have always been 100% behind supporting the event, and catering for the cyclists in Kinnitty village when they stop for refreshments and marshalling in Kinnitty to ensure safety for all.

"Each year when our club runs our Spinathon in the Bridge Centre in the weeks before Pedal the Peaks, to both advertise the event and raise money, the IKA volunteers always show us great support at this.

"They are so motivated, and have a fantastic support system in their group, and there is great teamwork in the well-established partnership of Tullamore Cycling and Touring Club and Offaly IKA.

"Local businesses and companies generously support the event through sponsorship, which covers the significant expense in running an event like this. This means that 100% of proceeds can be given directly to the charities we are working with, as was the case this year for the Offaly Branch of the Irish Kidney Association and the Offaly Hospice."

Dermot Milner, club chairperson, said, "The Pat Colgan Pedal the Peaks Cycle Challenge has been running for over twenty years and is synonymous with raising money for local charities and local causes. The cycling event was established to honour the memory of a member and friend of the club, Pat Colgan, who died in 1998 following an accident while cycling his bike. It is wonderful to be able to remember him and pay tribute to him in this way, while also raising money for local charities."

Sending his best wishes to all who were involved in making the event a success, Jerome Burke, the Chairman of the Offaly Branch of the Irish Kidney Association said, "I'd like to acknowledge the support of all those involved in the fundraising Spinathon, which was held as a prelude to the Challenge two weeks beforehand at the Bridge Shopping Centre Tullamore.

"I would like to thank members of the Tullamore Touring and Cycling Club for taking part including Dermot Milner and Martina Martin and also volunteer members of the Offaly IKA branch who manned the information stand, in particular, Dermot Glynn and his daughter Maureen, Treasurer Leona Mahon and Kay Dunne.

"Our thanks to the management of the Bridge Centre for hosting the Spinathon event and its patrons who interacted with us and so generously contributed to the fundraiser with many picking up an organ donor card also.

"On the day of the challenge members of the Offaly IKA branch provided a welcome stopover for weary cyclists, with food and refreshments at the community hall in Kinnitty village, managed by caterer Jackie Masefield Hall. Special thanks to our branch members Dina Mangan Tricia Steinegger, Linda Buckley and team leader Mary Young as well as Marjorie Stanley, Carol Stanley and Leona Mahon for helping out."

In summing up, the IKA's Offaly Chairman Jerome Burke said, "Our heartfelt thanks to An Garda Siochana, the Civil Defence, motorcycle outriders, photographers and the stewards and the community of Kinnitty for providing such a fabulous Community Centre at our disposal and members and friends for the Offaly IKA branch who began their day at 8am and who fed each participant until 3pm in the afternoon.

"Great praise must also go to Tullamore Harriers, for the outstanding facilities and also to the providers of the wonderful barbecue in the afternoon, which was enjoyed by all, and everyone was in good spirits following the day's events.

"Finally, we wish to thank the Tullamore Cycling and Touring Club organisers, riders, volunteers, sponsors, and to everybody who gave up their time to help others and so deservedly succeeded in achieving an outstanding day."