Home to Rome - 2018

Good evening all..

Well this is it everyone, the final 'Home To Rome 2018' post before the curtain comes down on what has been an amazing journey. This evening we presented our fundraising cheque to the amazing amount of €20,000.00 to Mr Neil O'Sullivan from the Waterford Hospice Board of Directors in Waterford University Hospital. This has really been such an emotional journey. From the birth of the idea that was kept in the back of my mind for a number of months to the point of sharing it with Jordan. For talking me around Jordan and convincing me we could do it - Thank you Son, you are an inspiration to me and I am very proud of you. Once the decision was made to do this everything else was a flash - The brief bit of training ,the preparation and the constant nerves that this was not going to be possible. For making the raffles possible and pushing this idea & its awareness as much as possible in such a short space time. For all the tireless running around and keeping all ticking along while we were away. Your efforts pushed this as much as possible - Thank you Karen & Emily. I love you both.

To Eamon and all @ Altitude, Waterford - For all the professional advice, time & providing a real personal touch - Thank you guys for going above and beyond.

To Barry and Co @ Suirdezign - For turning around our last minute requests and providing some amazing layouts/ideas. Such wonderful people who run an amazing service - Thank you guys for such an amazing service.

To Leslie & Evelyn @ Russell Fitness - In a short space of time you did your best to get me as fit as I could be for what lay ahead (Was never going to be easy!!) - I cant recommend these guys enough. Give them a try over the winter months. You will not regret it - A very professional set up with a lovely friendly atmosphere.

To Kieran Foley @ Munster Express - A talented writer/reporter who we are so grateful to have been able to share our intentions with and why. His much read platform pushed our story through Waterford & beyond. Thank you Kieran.

To Geoff, John, Eamonn, Daniel & all at WLR - A wonderful radio station with so many wonderful people. The call in's with Geoff while on the road were memorable and the airtime spread our story and intentions wide & far. Thank you WLR.

To Linda Spillane who from the start advised us, gave us ideas and set up connections with media avenues. You do so much for so many and on this occassion we recevied that wonderful support. Thank you Linda.

To the people of our parish in Ballyduff & Kilmeaden and the wider community. You know who you are. I would be here for hours naming everyone who helped so much, raffles, bucket collections, arranging prizes for draws.So so much.

The send off we got, the support all the way along and the home coming we received. From start to finish it was amazing and it reminded me how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place and know so many wonderful people.

This was a story, a promise made with a wonderful woman I am proud to call my Mum who I love with all my heart and miss every day.This lady both shared our journey and kept us safe each day and gave us hope when I wanted to give up.

This story was supported by so many and from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you all for the generous donations of your hard earned money, the constant support and the gentle pushes that allowed us reach the intended destination.

It really has been something else and has really reminded me how wonderful people are.
The 20K was achieved by all of us.

So thats it.........

WE ALL REACHED THE FINISH LINE.

Thank you.

So 2019 is just around the corner...

Hmmm, what can be done next..

Watch this space......

Goodnight everyone.

Have a lovely weekend....

Arthur...

Hi all - Good evening to everyone. I hope this post finds you all well since our last post.
Time has been flying by since our return home. Bodies and minds are returning to normality (and boy it is taking longer than expected!!). Getting back into a work and school routine also felt really weird. Bikes have had a much needed full makeover and a bit of TLC from the experts in Altitude (Thank you guys) and ready for the next journey whatever it may be....
Since returning home the support has just been amazing and it really has blown us away. We never expected any recognition for taking this event on but the support from all from the birth of this idea all the way to the finish line kept us both going day in day out. Fantastic support & messages at times when I wanted to throw in the towel where I realised I was nowhere near fit enough for the task ahead but just reminding myself how much wonderful support we were constantly receiving and why we were doing what we were doing gave us the strength to push on and slowly day by day.
This shared journey of a father, an amazing & inspirational son, the spirit of a wonderful lady who I love and miss dearly and the fantastic support of wonderful caring people reached the finish line in Rome after 31 days filled with so so many highs & lows.
Our reason and story of 2 novice cyclists taking this journey by bicycle and why was embraced and supported by so many in so many different ways.
A promise made between my Mother & I was kept,shared, supported and fulfilled and we hope that our drop in the ocean contribution to Waterford Hospice will help these wonderful hard working people achieve and go some bit towards what they are working so hard for. The new facility under construction will be a major asset to the South East and a comfort & support to patients and their loved ones when needed.
To the people who are making it happen including everyone who have donated their hard earned money to make it happen should be very proud.
We had hoped to cease all fundraising efforts and activities with Home to Rome 2018 by the end of September and since this has been a shared journey we wanted to share with you where we are with fundraising at present. SO....To date this shared journey from Home to Rome has raised a total of ---------€19,366.37 EURO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We never in a million years expected to reach anywhere near this amount!!!. We didnt have a target figure but never expected this especially in the time frame allocated to the fundraising since mid June. Again it makes me want to say such a huge huge thank you to everyone.You all know who you are and what you did and I thank you from my heart...
To my wife Karen, who accepted what we were setting out to do and worried as a wife & mother day and night - I apologise for making you worry & I thank you with all my heart - You did so so much running around and trying to push this as far as possible and this figure would not be anywhere near this amount had it not have been for your persistance to make this a success xx
We sat tonight and did say to one another wouldnt it be great to cap this at 20K as it is so so close and decided maybe it might be possible. Although the destination was reached the journey can continue and Home to Rome 2018 can do its final curtain call as Home to Rome 20K.
We need to try and raise €600.00 EURO to reach this amazing target. Can it be done??..I dont know and I for one second am not going to ask anyone to donate again when you have all given so much hard earned money ,time,effort & support. I did want your advice though to see if you, your friends/work colleagues or family might have potential business contacts who might be able to support our final push to reach this major milestone for this worthy cause.Your thoughts?? Has anyone got any potential ideas to achieve this before the final whistle is blown next week (Friday 12.Oct.2018) and we then arrange handover of all to Waterford Hospice which will be our final post.. I am open to any potential ideas and can be contacted by email at [email protected] or please contact Karen if preffered.
Whatever happens we are all so so proud of the current figure. I thought the journey itself at times was going to be impossible but I proved myself wrong. It might be possible to cap this also and reach the amazing amount of 20K. To take away the memories of a shared journey with so many wonderful wonderful people from near and far.
Goodnight to everyone and once again thank you so so much for helping us to do this, sharing our promise and our journey,

Arthur........

All aboard! ✈️🇮🇪 See you soon Ireland 😁