Joshua's 60km cycle raises more than €2,100 for charity
An impressive 60km cycle by 13-year-old Joshua Lohan from Roscommon Town has raised more than €2,100 for men’s health charity, Movember.
Movember aims to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues, including mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
Joshua, a First Year student at CBS Roscommon, explained what motivated him to undertake the 60km cycle for the charity. “I have a friend who lost a relation to suicide and that was emotive for me. My school is very pro-mental health and my family also takes part in ‘Darkness into Light’ yearly and I’ve done it the last few years.
“I was aware of Movember last year so I decided to do it this year and set up my fundraising page last Sunday week. Then on Tuesday (November 4th), I decided to do one big fundraiser and one big cycle for the charity,” he explained.
On Saturday, November 8th, at midday, he and his Dad James set off from Roscommon Town to cycle across towns and villages. They took water and rest breaks during their challenge, including a stop off at Joshua’s nanny, Eileen Beirne’s home in Strokestown.
On their journey, they took in Scramogue and Ballyleague before arriving back in Roscommon Town at about 5 pm.
“I’m just so surprised and so happy that I have raised so much money for a great charity. I never thought I was going to raise so much money. I’m overwhelmed,” he said, pointing out that his cousin Donnacha Caslin has also set a fundraising challenge to run 100 kilometres over the month.
Joshua’s mother Jennifer explained that their son took it all upon himself to do the fundraising cycle. “We are so proud of him and we are so thankful to everyone who has donated. A lot of parents have contacted me saying they couldn’t believe it. I supposed they were touched by a 13-year-old boy going off to do this,” she said.
Movember funding in Ireland primarily supports initiatives focused on mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Funding raised during the Movember campaign have a meaningful impact on men's health outcomes Joshua’s fundraising page can be accessed here.
