Motorcyclists and raising money for charity go together like leather and chrome. Combining them brings out all the best in people, both those who ride and those who don’t. Going through towns on a sponsored motorcycle run, waving, with buckets ready raises awareness for all taking part. The Annual Across Ireland (AAI) is a prime example of this, having been running now for almost 15 years and has raised over €2,000,000 for the charities which they have supported. This is a significant contribution which has affected the lives of 1,000’s of people, and this year we are looking to do it again.
This year the charity being supported by the AAI is
TeenLine Ireland, a service dedicated to helping young adults cope with depression, and most importantly to just offer them somebody to talk to. Note that Ireland is second only to Lithuania in Europe for suicide rates among young adults, and with the reduction in health funding over the last few years, these services are under heavy stress seeing a 15% increase in demand this year alone.
This year also marks a change in the regular AAI format as the route has changed from Dublin – Galway – Dublin to Dublin – Limerick – Dublin. Leaving on the morning of August 23rd and returning August 24th. The departure point is Xtreme45 on the Old Swords Road at around 12.30pm and returning the next day. The full route down to Limerick will include the Naas Road, Newbridge, Kildare Town, Monasterevin, Portlaoise, Mountrath, Borris in Ossory, Roscrea, Moneygal (Home of President Obama’s Irish roots), Nenagh, Birdhill, Limerick City, and Castleroy.
The motorcycles will be assembling from 0930 onwards and people are welcome to come around and see what all the fuss is about. There will be refreshments available and of course items to purchase to help support the charity, such as official t-shirts.
Most importantly if you are interested in showing some support then please follow the link to the AAI website and click the donate button on the bottom of the page, giving as little as $1. If you do so I would appreciate you adding my name or sponsorship card number (1035) to the “Add special instructions to recipient”.
And just to wet your appetite this is what we got up to last year…
Peace and look forward to seeing your support in whatever form it takes 🙂
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