Charities will have to postpone new projects after Ring cancellation

THE RING OF KERRY CYCLE HAS HELPED COUNTLESS PROJECTS GET OFF THE GROUND, SO ITS 2020 CANCELLATION WILL HIT ITS CHOSEN CHARITIES HARD

THE loss of the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle will have a detrimental effect on projects across Kerry.

Each year, over €1m is raised for charities – a substantial sum which has helped numerous capital projects off the ground, and 2020 would have been no exception.

This year’s charities include Ard Chúram Day Care Centre, Listowel, Banna Rescue, Breakthrough Cancer Research, Cúnamh Iveragh, Down Syndrome Ireland Kerry Branch and St Francis’ Special School. Thankfully all of this year’s charities will now be the beneficiaries of 2021, which is fantastic news.

However, in the interim, each of the charities have plans for the money, all of which will now have be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to the cancellation of hundreds of events across Kerry.

The decision to cancel, while a difficult one for organisers, was the right thing to do according to the charities, but it will also have widespread effects for those that need this money more than most.

Among the proposed projects that were to get off the ground with the support of the Ring of Kerry is a respite home in Cahersiveen being developed by Cúnamh Iveragh, and Ard Chúram is currently building a new state-of-the-art dementia day care Centre costing over €1m

The future of these projects is now in jeopardy as the charities seek to raise more funds to continue with their plans, but it will be difficult to raise such funds without what would have been generated by the annual cycle.

St Francis Special School was another beneficiary this year, and their plans to buy a bus for the school will be postponed according to Principal Liam Twomey.

“While it is disappointing, we will postpone our project. We have to be optimistic,” he said.

“It is a courageous decision for the organisers, and we fully understand the decision,” he added.

The bus campaign will continue next year when the Ring of Kerry goes ahead.

Chairperson of the Ring of Kerry Bridge McGuire said that the charities were their primary concern when reaching the decision to cancel.

“It is heart-breaking. The charities are depending on us... They all have very worthwhile projects but, hopefully, we will be able to give some money [in 2021],” she said.