Happy 12th Birthday to Mayo Pink Ribbon!
by Shauna Feerick
The Saturday of the May Bank Holiday is always a very special day for Mayo Pink Ribbon.
It was on this day 12 years ago that the very first charity cycle event took place, and it has been a feature of Castlebar life every Bank Holiday Saturday since until 2020 when Covid19 unfortunately forced its cancellation.
Since its inaugural event in 2010 thousands of cyclists have taken part and to date close to €1.2 million has been raised for breast cancer research.
This money funds the work of scientists at the globally renowned National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI) at the Lambe Institute, NUI Galway.
Lourda McHugh, founder of Mayo Pink Ribbon says that “Our success throughout the years is down to the thousands of cyclists from all over the country who travel to Mayo to join us every May Bank holiday, along with the hundreds of volunteers throughout Mayo who help us run our events each year.
"Our cycle has become known as the ‘Friendliest Cycle’ and this is entirely due to the effort of all our wonderful supporters and volunteers.
"By supporting Mayo Pink Ribbon, you are supporting research into breast cancer, you are promoting earlier diagnosis of breast cancer and you are helping find better treatments for breast cancer.
"Here at Mayo Pink Ribbon we passionately believe that by working together we can make a real difference in the fight against breast cancer.”
Patron of Mayo Pink Ribbon and former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said: “The fundraising efforts of Mayo Pink Ribbon over the years has made a real and significant difference to peoples lives.
"The research undertaken at the National Breast Cancer Research Institute has led to radically improved outcomes and prognosis for so many and ultimately many lives have been saved because of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute funded research."
This year again Covid unfortunately meant the cycle could not go ahead.
However, not to be deterred, the committee at Mayo Pink Ribbon came up with a fantastic alternative event – a 300km virtual tour of Mayo.
Participants have been signing up to this from all over the world via an online platform. They have been walking, running and cycling a virtual route around the county from Ballycroy to Achill, and enjoying many of our stunning scenic highlights along the way.
Lourda told us: “Mayo Pink Ribbon have been absolutely blown away with the support we have been shown for our 300k Your Way virtual challenge. We have people ‘touring Mayo’ from not only the four corners of Ireland but as far away as New York, Melbourne, Dubai and Canada.
"They are sending us photos of themselves doing the event in their own local area, they are interacting with our social media channels and overall are being amazing friends and champions of both Mayo Pink Ribbon and our charity partner.
"We are truly grateful for their friendship and support”
She finished by stating: “Please God next year we will be back on the bikes and our cycle event will be better than ever."
You can support Mayo Pink Ribbon by making a donation via their website https://www.mayopinkribbon.ie