Mayo siblings raise €16,000 for cancer charity

THE phenomenal total of €16,000 has been raised to date by three south Mayo siblings in aid of a charity close to their hearts.

Joseph, Ciara and Sarah Walsh from Robeen, Hollymount, along with a group of their close friends, shaved and dyed their hair to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society.

Last June, 13-year-old Sinéad Walsh was diagnosed with leukaemia. She is a second year student at Ballinrobe Community School.

Over the following months the Walsh family went through a traumatic time as their lives were turned upside down following Sinéad's life-changing diagnosis. However, following intensive treatment, Sinéad has shown great signs of recovery and has even been able to return part-time to school.

As a result, her siblings decided they wanted to give back to the charity which had assisted them so much over the past few difficult months and set up a Shave or Dye fundraiser online with the initial aim of raising €500. They were joined by their good friends Molly Ager from Kilmaine along with Jack, Amy, Lisa and Conor Geraghty, Robeen. They were also given online support by former Mayo footballers Colm Boyle and Cora Staunton.

Last weekend the gang headed into the experts at Klassy Kuts Hairdressers in Ballinrobe where fun was had shaving and dying all the heads. In fact, Sinéad's parents, Margaret and Brendan, and Tom and Irene Geraghty failed to avoid sitting in the dreaded chair as they joined in by having their heads dyed and shaved.

Ciara Walsh said: “Firstly, we would like to thank everyone who has donated and supported the fundraiser and to everyone who helped spread the word by sharing our social media posts.

“As you can see from our original target, we never imagined we would raise as much as we have. This is all going towards a worthy cause as I am sure we all know someone who has been affected by cancer.”

The link will remain open for another few weeks if anyone wishes to donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shaveordyeics?utm_source=whatsapp&fbclid=IwAR1HBUjQbtuvmMeEwAZpo8bw_8n5uPnNKvZAF_sq5M_Ht_qJWi_uI3KccHo.