Robbie back in the saddle for two worthy causes
HAVING raised €6,000 towards the restoration of the church organ at St Mary’s Church by cycling 250km around the county last year, Enniscorthy man Robbie Syme is getting back in the saddle again to raise even more money for two great causes.
Keen to help people at home and abroad, this year Robbie will be using pedal power to raise funds towards the MRI Scanner at Wexford General Hospital, and also towards health care for the poverty-stricken people of Rwanda.
As part of this year’s challenge, Robbie will be cycling to six cathedrals in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory, clocking up a total of 380km along the way. On the route are the cathedrals in Ferns, Leighlin, Kilkenny, Cashel, Lismore and Waterford and he will get underway in Ferns this Sunday, finishing in Waterford on Saturday, April 28.
He will arrive at each of the Cathedrals at approximately 7 p.m. each evening.
The cause of the MRI scanner is one of great importance to Robbie. Having suffered a heart attack in 2016, Robbie was a patient of Wexford General’s Coronary Care Unit (CCU) and his experience there led him to fundraise for this badly needed MRI scanner this year.
‘Being very well looked after in Wexford General’s CCU does have a bearing on my decision,’ he says. ‘After all charity begins at home! I also benefited from the Cardiac rehab programme there so I definitely have a ‘grá’ for the place. I also think that an MRI scanner is badly needed and I much admire the “Friends” of the hospital, having raised so much money to date for several causes. I hope that the funds raised in this venture will help in some small way in reaching the target of €250,000.’
The second cause, which aims to put a roof on a health centre in Rwanda, is also one that is close to Robbie’s heart as he’s been visiting the poverty-stricken country since 2002 along with a group of friends known collectively as the ‘Friends of Shyogwe Diocese’, who have been upgrading dispensaries there.
‘The original dispensaries consisted of one-roomed buildings which just dispensed some medicines,’ he said. ‘The upgraded health centres provide primary health care to approximately 25,000 people.’
The walls of the health centre in Nyamagana that they are fundraising for have already been built, but the roof will cost a fur- ther €9,000.
This new venture is also a further celebration of Robbie’s return to fitness and he’s delighted to be able to get out on his bike and help out.
‘Thanks to the good Lord and a good surgeon I survived!’ he says.
If you’d like to help Robbie with his fundraising, please visit www.idonate.ie/pedallingforhealth.