Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

SWIM FOR ORBIS.

Don’t fail the Whale!

Dear Friend,

As you will know, the aviation industry has always been a valued supporter of the amazing work that Orbis carries out in Ethiopia. Orbis is also a charity which has long relied upon two key events in the calendar for the vast majority of its annual fund raising:

• The Orbis Ball every January in Dublin
• The 10km run every November in Addis Ababa

Alas, neither event took place this year, for reasons we are depressingly familiar with; and if that wasn’t bad enough, the spectre of a civil war will now make the plight of Ethiopia’s children even more desperate.

So, as we enter the season of goodwill, I am writing to ask your help in raising money for a very deserving cause. I have committed to a SWIM FOR ORBIS over 60 minutes in the week before Christmas. The icy waters off the coast of windswept County Mayo can be very uninviting in mid-December; just as well I ‘ve switched my one-mile swim to the heated pool at Castlebar!

My stretching target is to raise five thousand euros if I can. Orbis tell me that would pay for 500 sight-saving surgeries in rural Ethiopia, but even a small donation of ten euros would enable Orbis to conduct an eye surgery that would prevent someone from going blind. That ten euros would prevent someone from living in pain, discomfort and a lifetime of blindness. Your donation can transform lives.

Please don’t fail the Whale!

Finally, a Merry Christmas to you and all your loved ones over the holiday period.