The headquarters of Westmeath County Council, Aras an Chontea, Mullingar, turned gold on Friday, September 1, in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
County Buildings will be lit up in gold until September 7 to support the Childhood Cancer Foundation’s ‘Light it up Gold’ awareness campaign.
Independent councillor, Michael O’Brien, called for the council to participate in the initiative at the July meeting of Westmeath County Council.
“I’m delighted that the council have agreed to participate in this worthy initiative,” Cllr O’Brien said. “So many young children are affected by cancer in this county. The whole idea of the campaign is try to raise awareness of the many issues affecting children with cancer by lighting up in gold as many landmark buildings in every county across the country.
“Last year was the first year of the initiative and almost 100 buildings and landmarks across the country took part, including the Dublin Convention Centre, Shannon Airport, Cobh Cathedral, Bunratty Castle, and many others. This is Westmeath’s first year to participate, so I think it’s a nice way of showing our solidarity with the children and families affected by cancer across the county and raising awareness in the process.”
