Charity cycle from Northampton enters County Roscommon
The cyclists finished the 170km stretch of the cycle from Trim to Lisacul this evening. Tomorrow they set off on the final 116km leg to Belmullet.
A six day charity cycle has entered County Roscommon this evening. Participants in the cycle finished the 170km leg from Trim to Lisacul.
In total 27 cyclists started the 700km journey on Saturday from Northampton, and will finish the final stretch to Belmullet tomorrow on behalf of the McCarthy-Dixon foundation.
Lisacul natives Paul and Declan Deane are taking part in the cycle. Paul, who now lives in Northampton, and his family have played a crucial role in the development of the McCarthy-Dixon Foundation since its inception.
Kerry native Teresa McCarthy-Dixon, founder of the foundation, moved to Northampton from Kerry 19 years ago, and took over the Irish pub, ‘The Swan and Helmet’. The pub became a focal point for the Irish community.
When her pub closed down during the Covid-19 pandemic, she set about giving back to the community. “This was always a good fundraising pub. There are lots of good, decent people in here that would support people that had tragedy, just like back home, everyone rallies together and supports people in the community.” “I turned the pub into a food bank, and I opened on March 30th, 2020 with over 1,000 ready meals and 750 food hampers. Within a half an hour, I was absolutely flat out,” said Teresa.
The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation has gone from strength to strength since, with over 150 active volunteers offering services such as social clubs for the elderly and disabled people, a mental health team, domestic abuse outreach, food clubs for over 90 schools along with volunteers offering their services such as plumbing and carpentry.
The foundation was awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service last year, and Teresa herself was awarded an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) at Easter.
Teresa praised the Deane family for their support of the foundation. “They are such big supporters of the charity and they see first-hand the impact we are having. Even today there are over 1,700 food parcels gone out this morning.”
Next year the charity will also be supporting Roscommon charities as the Northampton’s Mayor’s Consort for 2025/26 is Mike Hallam, whose father hails from Roscommon. Donations to the cycle can be made on JustGiving.com.
