Firefighters raising funds for those families who have to climb their own Everest everyday!

Come out and support your local fire brigade as they fundraise for children’s cancer charity, Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. This year, the firefighters all over the country will be climbing the equivalent height of Mount Everest, a staggering 8,848 meters (that’s 29,029 feet) above sea level! They will also be providing entertainment including live streamed lip sync battles and funny dance videos from around the country. This event reflects the uphill battle families around Ireland are struggling with everyday when a child is diagnosed with cancer and undergoing treatment.

Championing this event will include Grania  Willis, one of the first Irish women ever to climb Everest and Pat Falvey, the first Irishman to complete the seven summits. Both Grania and Pat and many others will be recording inspirational messages to the NRFA firefighters to support them and will be available for interviews, together with many other climbers and inspirational people!  Expect to see some famous faces. 

Now more than ever charity drives such as these need public support.   The needs and the services of Aoibheann’s Pink Tie did not stop during the Covid crisis and restrictions. Families all around Ireland have been supported by Aoibheann’s Pink Tie, throughout the pandemic.

So. Please give generously and let’s break 2019’s fundraising figures!

The Background to this Long-term Fundraising Project by NRFA:

The committee of the National Retained Firefighters Association of Ireland plays an important part in communicating the messages from the 2500 Retained Firefighters across the country. When their members said they wanted to support a charity it was very important that as a committee we choose the right one.

They have chosen Aoibheann’s Pink Tie as their long term charity partner, and in particular long term goals for the Lighthouse Project.

The Aoibheann’s Pink Tie Lighthouse Project will be a vital service, giving families from every part of Ireland who have a child receiving vital cancer treatment in Hospital, clean, safe, purpose-built accommodation for the period of their child’s cancer treatment.

This is the culmination of 11 years of fund-raising with Aoibheanns’s Pink Tie – which started after the death of Jimmy Norman’s daughter Aoibheann. That fund-raising has resulted in the purchase and renovation of a house – Aoibheann’s Lighthouse – in Drimnagh, Dublin, funds for which were boosted considerably with the continuing proceeds of Strip and Dip – a huge fundraising initiative by Deirdre Featherstone, herself a cancer survivor.  The Aoibheann’s Pink Tie Lighthouse Project is set to open in full soon, as final restrictions lift.

The Fundraising from 30th October, 2021,  by NRFA,  will go towards the maintenance of the house, as a short term goal, with long-term goals of looking at a Lighthouse Project to fund more accommodation for parents, in bigger projects, to which the NRFA and their members are committed.

Said Stephen McFadden, Chairman, NRFA “Our firefighters have a caring ethos, a spirit of volunteerism, and a need to achieve something real.  Most people know somebody who has been touched by fire much like cancer so we the firefighters of Ireland are here to help with both current and future APT projects like this. The firefighters’ message to the people of Ireland is that we are here to help put the fire out on children’s cancer”.