Longford pair walk 325km in mental health awareness drive

Almost two years on from trudging the near 600km trek from Malin to Mizen Head, the pair finished another trek on Saturday, finishing their 11 days and 325km walk from East to West, from Dublin to Achill .

The finishing point was the idyllic surrounds of Keem beach in Mayo in what was their second gruelling foray into raising much needed funds for charity.

And like the duo's July 2021 fundraiser, this year's philanthropic endeavour saw Dan and Micheál once again don their walking boots with a view to raising funds and much needed awareness around mental health.

This year, Co Roscommon based counselling service Vita House was the main beneficiary of an appeal which was especially close to both Dan and Michéal's hearts.

Suitably dubbed Hike to Hope, a GoFundMe page was set up with the aim of raising in the region of €6,000 for the community orientated service.

By the time the pair completed their 325km, 11 day walk, the fundraiser had generated over €6,200.

Dan said the huge outpouring of public support was one that was certainly not lost on him.

“Just as the feet have finally recovered, 21 months later, motivation from some unknown source inspired us to go again,” he said.

“It was not quite as far as Malin to Mizen this time but a mere 325 kilometres or so, East to West, from Dublin to Achill and ending on the beautiful Keem Beach.

“We are conscious that people have been very generous in the past but we are again donating all money raised to Vita House, the counselling service that has been such a huge help and support to so many families in Longford and Roscommon,” he said.

To donate to 'Hike to Hope' before its fundraising page closes, simply follow the link:
gofundme.com and type Hike to Hope in the online platform's search engine.