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Thanks for taking the time to visit the Amiri Construction's Irish Challenge JustGiving page.

The Irish Challenge is to teams of four to cycle, in relay, over 500 miles in three days, from Blarney Castle in South West Ireland to Dublin.

 The aim of this event is to raise money for the two nominated charities; Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundtaion and our selected charity which is the Isabel Hospice in Welwyn garden City.

As many of you will know Grahame very sadly lost his dear Mum to Cancer in January 2009 and it has taken  until now to decide how best to give something back to those who continually help search for a cure and to those very special people who made her last days so comfortable and helped me and my family in our time of need.

The Isabel Hospice is a charity that was founded in 1982 to maximise the quality of life of those living with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. To provide high quality specialist palliative care, including support for those who are in the terminal phase of their illness. To support the families and carers of patients and to continue such support into bereavement.

It was a wonderful place that made our last days with Joan Pettit so very special and almost bearable - it is for this reason that we will be cycling the 500 miles around Ireland with passion in every pedal stroke. It would be great if you could donate whatever you feel to help this great cause.

So, we now all have bikes which is useful! From full modern carbon frame speed machine through to the old 'trusty rusty'.  It would be nice to say that we are all now 'tapering' towards the big event but the reality is that training needs to continue, if only to condition particular parts of the body!

Looking forward to the trip now and talking to others it will prove to be a fantastic event for a worthy cause.

It all started for us when Stuart Mason-Elliott, one of the Challenge Adventure Charities Trustees and a supplier and supporter of Amiri Construction, mentioned to Grahame that he "did a bit of cycling"! With the wind having been so poor, dedicated windsurfers Grahame, Phil and Justin have been desperately trying to find ways of keeping fit and getting a bit of a buzz so the mountain bikes and road bikes have been getting an airing. Grahame suggested that he "did a bit of cycling" as well and all of a sudden found himself, and the rest of the team, committed to the fantastic event that is the Irish Challenge. A few new bikes and some training later and we are delighted to have committed ourselves to such an excellent event.

Following on from the Alpine Challenge of 2009 and the Massif Challenge in May which raised £155,121 (from a total raised by Challenge Adventure Charities of £2.5m!) the Irish Challenge has at least 61 teams (we know that 'cos we're team no. 61!) each aiming to raise at least £1k.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.