Ryley set to crop the mop
ELEVEN year old Ryley Maher from Station Road, Castlebellingham, is parting with his beloved locks to raise funds for Irish Guide Dogs. Ryley will have his head shaved by his mum Caz live on Facebook on Friday at 8.30pm
The Irish Guide Dogs is a charity close to family’s heart as younger son, seven year old Oren, who is visually impaired, has an intellectual disability and Autism, has benefited greatly from his assistance dog Cookie, which came to live with them two years ago.
‘Cookie is Oren’s best friend and has changed his life,’ says Caz. ‘He won’t leave the house without her.’
She explains that getting the Cookie means Oren can now go for walks, as he doesn’t understand danger, and Cookie keeps him safe as they cross roads.
‘Ryley is a very protective big brother and the two of them are very very close,’she continues. ‘Friday is Irish Guide Dogs Day this yea rwe can’t go out to shops with buckets to collect money. We came up with the idea of Ryley having his head shaved and it didn’t take a second for him to say he would do it.’
Now Caz says she is ‘going to get great pleasure’ out of his cutting his hair!
Ryley, who is in fifth class at Kilsaran National School, is very proud of his hair and has been growing it for the past year, only getting it trimmed from time to time.
The family have set up a GoFundMe page called Chop the Mop for Irish Guidedogs, and are hoping to raise €500 for the training of guide dogs and assistance dogs. The charity badly needs money as all community fundraising cancelled since March, against a background where it costs €5 million per annum to run the charity and €53,000 to train one guide dog.