Two friends ‘make waves’ for cancer support funds

A GOAL of €20k for cancer support services has been set, as two friends are soon to set off on a 320km kayak expedition of the River Shannon.

Kayak for Cancer is a source-to-sea kayaking expedition, with the goal of raising €20,000 for the Irish Cancer Society.

Friends Gavin Sheehan and Maccullin Skelly are beginning their 320km trip of the Shannon on April 2, with the hope of completing the expedition over the course of one week.

Both men are friends from their university careers and attended University of Limerick (UL), where they were heavily involved in the UL Kayak Club.

“To our knowledge, we'll be the first people to paddle from the source of the Shannon to the Atlantic Ocean in one trip.

“Many people do the shorter trip from Dowra in Cavan to Limerick City, ”Gavin said.

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Gavin is a current employee in Analog Devices, in Raheen on the suburbs of Limerick city while Mac is living and working in Lusk in Dublin.

Like many, Gavin and Mac's families have both been affected by cancer in recent years and it's for this reason they chose the Irish Cancer Society as their fundraising beneficiary.

Mid-West fundraising event manager of the Irish Cancer Society, Mary Murray, has been working with Gavin and Mac since early December last and says that their determination is “truly inspiring”.

“This year alone, 40,000 people in Ireland will hear the words ‘you have cancer’ - it is really vitally important that they know that the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) are here to offer them the information, care and support they need to ease that burden.

“Gavin and Mac are doing so well already with their fundraising, any amount that a person can donate to them is a huge support to us at ICS and we are really grateful to them for choosing us as their beneficiary of their kayak event.”

With the event not far into the future, Gavin and Mac are almost 50% of the way to their fundraising goal in the lead up to and during their expedition.

Ms Murray continued by saying that only 3% of the ICS is government funded and the charity is required to raise €20m every year. ICS depend on fundraising and donations to finance the services they provide