Dundalk couple raise €9,532 for Irish Kidney Association

Augustine and Catherine Goss from Kilcurry recently visited the Irish Kidney Association’s National Kidney Support Centre at Beaumont Hospital to present a cheque for €9,532.

​The funds were raised for the charity’s Support Centre through a successful Gift of Life Golf Classic which the couple had organised and was held at Greenore Golf Club, Co. Louth on 15th May, on the eve of Organ Donor Awareness Week.

The Golf Classic marked a particularly special year for Augustine (Gus) and Catherine as they celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary and five years since Catherine donated a kidney to Gus. After undergoing home dialysis seven nights a week for seven months, Gus received his life-changing kidney transplant in 2021.

The National Kidney Support Centre which has undergone major renovation provides free accommodation and day facilities for kidney patients and their families travelling from across Ireland for treatment in Dublin.

While thanking all those individuals and organisations who supported the Golf Classic through participation, sponsorship and donations, Gus also expressed his gratitude for his renewed health and the support the Irish Kidney Association provides to his and other kidney patients’ families, he said, “Organising the golf event was our way of giving something back and raising awareness so that more families can have the same second chance we’ve had.”

The Golf Classic brought together 40 teams of golfers, transplant recipients, living donors, supporters and friends in a celebration of organ donation and community spirit, highlighting the life-changing impact of transplantation while raising much-needed funds for the IKA's services.

This was the couple's second Golf Classic in aid of the Irish Kidney Association, following the hugely successful inaugural event in 2022, which raised almost €18,000. Together, the two fundraisers have generatedalmost €28,000 to support kidney patients and their families across Ireland.

In recognition of their outstanding support, Sarah Buchanan, Projects Manager, Irish Kidney Association (IKA), from Dundalk, herself a kidney transplant recipient, together with Gwen O’Donoghue, Senior Media Officer, IKA, presented Gus and Catherine with a limited-edition print of an illustration by talented amateur artist and former IKA National Chairman, Colin Mackenzie, of the National Kidney Support Centre.

For more information on the Irish Kidney Association or how to get a donor card including the digital donor card which can be stored in your phone wallet visit www.ika.ie