Everest climb in doubt
A PLANNED fundraising climb of Mount Everest is now in doubt due to coronavirus.
Wicklow men John O’Byrne and Seamus Whelan were due to travel to Nepal in May to climb the world’s highest peak to raise funds for Gorey-based mental health charity, Talk to Tom.
However, the Covid-19 situation has put the climb in doubt and meant that all fundraising events have had to be postponed.
John O’Byrne, from Macreddin Village, and Seamus Whelan, from Hackettstown, Co. Carlow, both work at the Kerry Foods plant in Shillelagh. They have been training to undertake this gruelling trek to raise money for mental health and suicide prevention charity, Talk to Tom.
‘It has never been more important to take our mental health seriously,’ said John, who is a supervisor at the Shillelagh facility.
‘ Talk to Tom is a charity that is close to my heart. They have trained some 130-team members here in Kerry Foods Shillelagh in QPR Suicide Prevention Training and our goal is to keep this wonderful charity funded.
‘ They help so many local people here in Shillelagh, Arklow, Wicklow and indeed Gorey. They are also training people all over Ireland in QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) Training, which I have done myself and I can attest to its life-saving potential.
‘We decided to take on the most daunting and challenging trek that we could. This was a personal challenge to ourselves and it was also symbolic, It is to symbolise the uphill battle people struggling with their mental health face every day,’ Mr O’Brien said.
‘ Talk to Tom has helped so many people over the years - and we want to make sure that they are in a position to continue to help people,’ said Seamus Whelan, who has worked at the Kerry Foods Shillelagh plant for 20 years.
‘ This group is doing so much to help people who are struggling with their mental health - where our Government is failing. We are both looking forward to taking on this challenge, the training is gruelling at the moment, we are doing 60-miles per week, but it will be worth it in the long run.’
The duo are hoping to raise €30,000 for the Gorey-based charity, which is entirely volunteer-led, and had intended to hold a number of fundraising events in the run up to their trek.
Kerry Foods began to work with Talk to Tom in 2018, when the charity started to deliver QPR training to staff at the food produce giant’s plant.
QPR is a suicide intervention technique and the three steps outlined help people learn to recognise the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone for help.
John and Seamus are continuing with their training and preparations for the trip in case it can go ahead. Anyone wishing to donate online can do so at www.uphillbattle.ie.