People in the city, Gort, Ballinasloe and Tuam will show their support for the international aid agency GOAL over Christmas by running, walking or crawling the GOAL Mile fundraiser.
The Galway and Tuam GOAL Miles both take place on Christmas Day - the Galway Mile at the NUI Galway Sportsground at Dangan from 10am to 1pm and the Tuam Mile at the Rugby Club from noon until 1pm.
The Ballinasloe Mile will be held on St Stephen’s Day at the Garbally Grounds (Scoil Mhuire entrance ) from 2pm to 3pm while the Gort Mile will take place on January 1 at Coole Park from 1pm to 2pm. All you have to do is turn up, run, walk or crawl and make a donation to GOAL.
For thousands of families the annual GOAL fundraiser, now in its 28th year, has become as much a part of their Christmas tradition as mince pies and roast turkey, says Ronan Scully, GOAL’s representative in the west of Ireland.
“There’s no better way to deal with the excesses of the Christmas season than throwing on a pair of running shoes and doing a lap for GOAL. Last year, GOAL Miles took place at 65 locations nationwide, making it the biggest GOAL Mile ever. In total, over €500,000 was collected for GOAL’s projects across the developing world.
“However, this year’s event is going to be even bigger, with new Miles taking place in Tuam, Ballinasloe, Belfast, Monaghan, Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi to name just a few.”
He says the charity is proud of the fact that since being established in 1977 it has strived to keep administration costs as low as possible.
“This means your donations have the maximum possible impact on the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Over the years, GOAL has spent €505 million delivering aid to 50 countries across the developing world. In that time we have also sent approximately 1,400 GOALies to work alongside a huge number of local staff to help the world’s poor.”
For further information about your local GOAL Mile log onto www.goal.ie or call GOAL Galway at (087 ) 6189094.
