The inaugural Midlands Mini-Marathon took place on Monday August 3 from the Park Hotel, Mullingar.
Niall Mellon, founder of the Niall Mellon Township Trust started the run, and athlete and olympian Pauline Curley (a native of Tullamore ) led the runners out, all in aid of the Niall Mellon Township Trust. The Westmeath Volunteer Club of the Niall Mellon Township Trust had organised the tremendously successful five mile fun run and over 150 people participated from the Westmeath area.
The purpose of the mini-marathon was to raise funds for volunteers in the Midlands who are going on the Niall Mellon Township Trust’s next building blitz to Wallacedene in Cape Town, South Africa this November.
Speaking at the run, Niall Mellon said, “It is fantastic for me to be here today to see so many people prepared to put on their running shoes for charity. The people of Ireland never cease to amaze me in their generosity to help others despite the difficult times they may be experiencing themselves. I would especially like to thank all the Westmeath people who are participating in this event. The charity has received tremendous support from Westmeath over the years and I would like to thank everyone here today most sincerely for all their efforts. It is only with the help of our volunteers that we can continue to grow and meet our targets of building more homes for impoverished families living in shacks. It is thanks to the people of Westmeath hundreds of children will get to live in a house for the first time in their lives and have a better and safer start in life. I would especially like to thank our Westmeath Volunteer Club for all their efforts and especially Maura Maher, Aidan Reid, and Christy Carroon.”
Aidan Reid, veteran volunteer and organising committee member said, “Today was a terrific day and it was fantastic to have so many people from Westmeath involved. Proceeds from the mini-marathon will enable us to assist the fundraising activities of local volunteers going on the Niall Mellon Trust Building Blitz in November. This is a very hard week of work, but most rewarding for those who go every year. The charity has a very serious year-round mission to build houses for families living in shacks in the townships of South Africa and since it was first started in 2002, it has built more than 11,000 homes for families living in appalling conditions. The Building Blitz is a unique opportunity for us as volunteers to make a significant difference for children in a truly deprived area of Cape Town.”
The Westmeath Volunteer Club is hoping to make this an annual event.
The Niall Mellon Township Trust will be bringing more than 1,000 Irish volunteers to Cape Town from November 6 to 14 to build homes for families living in the Wallacedene township.
