Fancy dress day to raise funds for real superheroes

THIS Saturday, supermarkets around the county are set to welcome some very colourful characters into their shopping aisles as Tesco hosts Ireland’s Largest Fancy Dress Day.

The event is being run as a fundraiser to collect vital funds for Temple Street and, with it taking part in all of the company’s 148 Irish stores, Tesco is hopeful that it will reach its national fundraising target of €100,000.

Among those lending their support to the event is fouryear-old Jacob Byrne, who has revealed that he will be dressing up as a ninja for the day.

The Greystones boy seemed to been a perfectly healthy baby at first. However, a couple of days after he had the standard heel prick test after birth, his mum Gemma got a phone call to say that Jacob had PKU, a rare inherited condition which means he cannot use protein in the usual way.

PKU is treated completely by a protein restricted diet and Jacob has been on this diet since birth.

He has his bloods taken every week and analysed by the team at Temple Street. The machine that does this was purchased through Tesco fundraising and so he and his family are backing this valuable fundraiser.

The fun and games will take place in store from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday, July 23. Staff members will be kitted out in a variety of costumes while they host parties, cake sales, face painting and other fun activities.

As an added extra, Tesco Extra Arklow and Tesco Bray, in partnership with Mondelez, will be hosting a fancy dress photo booth, where shoppers can get a costume and get snapping for a great cause.

All funds raised will go towards replacing equipment in the out-patient Ophthalmology department at Temple Street, helping the team to give the best possible care to children by using the latest technology for eye examinations.