This article is from page 33 of the 2009-09-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
CELEBRATING ten years in the saddle, the East Clare Chernobyl Cycle has once again taken off for Belarus to raise money to help chil- CHU PO MONNuom Nucor
The cycle has taken place each Sep- tember and was first undertaken in 1999. This year, the route will take the intrepid riders on a 230 kilome- tre route over two and a half days, during which time they will see what has been done in the schools and orphanages with the money raised
through last year’s cycle.
Of the money raised last year, €20,000 went to provide a launder- ette for the orphanage at Gantsivi- chi and €8,000 was spent to buy 88 doors for a similar institution in An- topol.
In another orphanage, Malech, a lot of work had been done previously and this time they needed just €3,000 to buy gardening equipment.
The institutions, which the cycle helps, had little or nothing in the way of proper facilities before the east Clare riders became involved. In
many cases, there was no hot water or proper sanitary facilities.
Eighteen cyclists took off last week and will be viewing all of the projects which were started last year.
“We go to each project and see what has been done and get to meet the people there, to see how they’re getting on,’ said Pat O’Connor, one of the original cyclists and organis- ers of the trip. Each year, cyclists raise sponsorship to fund whichever projects are needed in the coming twelve months.
As this is the decade anniversary of
the trip, there will be a special cel- ebration and presentation at the Oak- wood Arms when the cyclists return at the end of the month.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years,’ said Pat. “We’re going to be real celebrities this trip. The Belarus- sian Minister for Education is going to meet us this time and there will be a piece about the project on Belarus- sian TV and radio. And we’re going to be bringing a gift for the minis- ter from Clare County Council, so it will be a real international event,’ he told