Rory Best’s Miles to Mayo team set for final push towards Cong

The team taking part in Rory Best’s Miles to Mayo challenge will arrive in Galway this Saturday evening, September 19, as they enter the eighth day of an epic nine-day charity walk.

Former Ireland rugby captain Rory Best is leading a team of 21 business leaders around the island of Ireland, with their journey set to culminate in Cong, Co Mayo, home to Cancer Fund for Children’s second Daisy Lodge therapeutic short break centre.

The team will arrive in Galway on Saturday before continuing towards their final destination in Mayo.

The new Daisy Lodge centre in Cong is currently nearing completion and is due to open in 2027. It will provide therapeutic short breaks for children and families affected by cancer.

Among those completing all nine marathons in nine days are Julie Galbraith, Chief Business Officer with Arachas, and Mike Maloney, Regional Director (West) at Arachas Corporate.

The challenge is the third major fundraising walk organised by Rory Best in support of Cancer Fund for Children.

In 2021, Best completed the inaugural Rory’s Miles to Mayo challenge, walking 290km from the charity’s first Daisy Lodge in Newcastle, Co Down, to the site of the future centre in Cong. The event raised more than €1 million.

He returned in 2023, walking from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to Cong and raising a further €1.5 million.

Last year, a team of business leaders took on the 26 Mountains to Mayo challenge, climbing the highest peak in each of Ireland’s 26 counties and raising more than €1.8 million.

This year, the two fundraising initiatives have been brought together to form Rory’s Miles to Mayo – The Trilogy.

The challenge is supported by headline sponsor Arachas Corporate Brokers and supporting sponsor Kingsbridge Private Hospital Group.

Cancer Fund for Children provides therapeutic and emotional support to children and young people living with cancer, as well as their families, in homes, hospitals and at its Daisy Lodge centre in Newcastle.

The charity says that up to 10 children and young people aged between 0 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every week across the island of Ireland.

Demand for short breaks at Daisy Lodge currently far exceeds capacity, with only one in seven families able to be accommodated.

The new centre in Cong is being developed to help meet that demand and will provide a dedicated therapeutic space for children with cancer and their families when it opens next year.

The Miles to Mayo team’s arrival in the west this weekend marks the final stages of their journey, before they reach Cong and the site of the new Daisy Lodge.