A group of us from all over Ireland but based in Sydney are taking part in the 2021 Big Husky Sprint Triathlon to raise some much needed funds for the Intensive care unit at St. James Hospital, Dublin.

Knowing the strain the hospitals and healthcare workers at home have been under during the last year of the Covid pandemic, we wanted to come together to help support somehow.

Weve challenged our selves to complete a 750m swim, 20k cycle and 5k run, and will be raising money for Irelands largest hospital.

Almost all of us are first time triathletes, majority of us barely able to swim a length of the pool before this, so weve all on quite the journey over the last few months to get ourselves fit to compete on the 27th February.

We would love your support & any donation, no matter how small would be hugely appreciated.

The money that is raised will be used to help fund a healing garden that patients and visitors can use to aid their recovery.

The Healing Garden would serve to:

Reduce pain and stress - help relieve the anxiety and stress often experienced by those with serious illness

Increase patient satisfaction - those mostly confined indoors particularly benefit from being outside and connecting with nature

Improve recovery rates - studies have demonstrated that patients who have contact with nature recover quicker

Be accessible to all wheelchairs and patient beds

Include a calming water feature created from salvaged artefacts from the former 19th Century chapel that once stood onsite at the hospital

Include a Covid19 reflection area for families and staff

Provide outdoor space for a wide range of activities such as art, music and mindfulness

Provide space for our patients to meet visitors away from the wards and noisy concourse and corridors