Aaron Bermingham has cycled approximately 1,600km from Barcelona to Rome, in aid of four different Irish charities that are close to his heart. The RNLI, the Irish Cancer Society, the Alzheimer's Society and the Samaritans. There was an online i-donate page and a table quiz held in The Old Ship, Main Street, Arklow, Co. Wicklow.
East Coast Samaritans and the Galway branch were delighted to be chosen by Aaron to share from i-donate fund with both branches receiving €605 each. All other charities involved received their share from i-donate also. Every donation to the Samaritians helps us to be here for our callers at their hour of need. We appreciate this donation and thank you so much for your support.
East Coast Samaritan volunteers were delighted to attend the quiz on 14th September in The Old Ship and all monies raised from the quiz was distributed among Aaron's charities. The quiz night was great fun and the venue was packed to capacity. The craic was mighty with our local quizmaster, Mr Pat Power, not only calling the numbers but also ran a raffle with lovely spot prizes.
Aaron put a lot of thought and effort into pre-planning the journey and booked his places to stay prior to leaving Ireland. He told volunteers he cycled alone with some supplies - without speaking the language of the region. During his cycle he had a very welcome and lovely surprise visit from his parents. Needless to say John and Liz are extremely proud of him!
Aaron went on to tell us that when he crossed into Italy his phone ran out of data and he no longer had access to sat-nav. However Aaron, being a highly organized, resourceful and quick thinking young man, had anticipated such event and had downloaded the route map at a B & B prior to leaving. His hopes now were that the battery would last the day.
Andrea from East Coast Samaritans said Aaron is an inspirational young man to have planned and completed the cycle by himself adding “Arklow is blessed to have such motivated, helpful and locally talented people like Aaron”.
Lauri from East Coast Samaritans said, "I felt it was an honor to meet Aaron and his parents to be honest. We all know the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes for any endeavor but what Aaron has done is beyond imagining. The preparation in itself can be daunting, before ever getting up on his bicycle. Nothing that I say can come close to a full appreciation of Aaron's trip, or indeed what his parents too have done to make it happen”.
To learn more about Aaron's journey please click here to access an article from the Arklow Times.
Volunteers from East Coast Samaritans were delighted to meet and greet Aaron and his parents, John and Liz, over a nice cuppa tea and apple tart! John & Liz then presented our branch with a donation of €380 thus bringing the total raised from the quiz and online donations to a handsome €985, all of which will go towards the running of our branch.
