CANCER support charity Recovery Haven Kerry has received the ultimate Christmas present this week with confirmation that proceeds from their recent Movember challenge have exceeded a staggering €30,000.
The charity, which offers free support to cancer patients and their families across Kerry, had hoped to raise €10,000 from the initiative, having invited 100 men to register for Movember and raise €100 each for the charity.
The response to the campaign, however, was phenomenal with 140 men eventually signing up to grow – and subsequently lose – their beards or moustaches in November, with everyone smashing the €100 target sought by Recovery Haven.
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The campaign culminated with a mass shave-off at the Rose Hotel on November 29, when 60 of the men lost their facial hair at the hands of the wonderful staff at Sean Taaffe, The Barber Tralee and Kerry ETB, all of whom volunteered their services on the night.
Meanwhile, a number of other community groups organised their own shave off events in towns and villages across the county at the end of November, all adding significantly to the fundraising pot.
While the remaining funds continued to trickle in before Christmas, Recovery Haven confirmed this week that the proceeds raised from the event have now exceeded €30,000 – a figure which organisers could never have imagined.
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Paying tribute to Tralee man Junior Locke, who first approached the charity with the ‘100 Men/€100’ challenge idea, as well as the men from across Kerry who pledged their support to Recovery Haven, PR & Marketing officer Marisa Reidy described the event as one of the major success stories of Recovery Haven’s year.
“When we set out to do this, we honestly wondered if we’d get 100 men to sign up, but we couldn’t have imagined just how amazingly the men of Kerry would respond. Once we knew we had exceeded 100 men, we were confident of exceeding our €10,000 target, but to make three times that amount of money has surpassed all our expectations,” she said.
“It’s hard to put into words just how grateful we are to each and every man who went above and beyond for Recovery Haven; to Junior Locke whose brilliant idea this was, to The Rose Hotel for their ongoing support and to our amazing barbers on the night. The goodwill was just overwhelming.”
Such was the incredible success of this year’s initiative that organisers have now confirmed they will definitely be making it an annual event, with a Guinness Book of Records attempt on the cards for next year…so watch this space!
Meanwhile, Recovery Haven hosted a Christmas party at their premises in Killerisk where volunteers, staff and visitors enjoyed tea and refreshments. Scroll down for photos…
