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Mary McCarthy , Mena Cahill , Brian Sheehy from Tralee and Derek Rusk of Manor West Retail Park who welcomed over 100 cyclists from the 18th Annual ‘Tour de Munster’ held in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) and individual beneficiaries last year. Photo By : Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD
MANOR West Shopping Centre and Retail Park will welcome cycling legend Seán Kelly and over 100 amateur cyclists to Tralee on the second day of the 600km Tour de Munster charity cycle tomorrow, (Friday August 9).
This will be the third year that Manor West has hosted the tour in Tralee. Celebrating its 19th year this August, the Tour de Munster charity cycle is raising vital funds and awareness for the Munster branches of Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) and individual beneficiaries.
From 2pm to 6pm, Manor West Shopping Centre and Retail Park along with and the DSI Kerry branch have planned a range of fun activities for the afternoon including zumba dancing, face painting, balloon modelling and much more as they welcome the tour to Tralee.
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Over the past nine years, the Kerry branch of DSI has benefited greatly from the funds raised as a result of the Tour de Munster charity cycle.
Commenting ahead of this year’s Tour de Munster and its arrival to Kerry, Madeleine Rose Doyle, PRO of DSI Kerry said; “The Tour de Munster is such a fantastic event and we will never be able to show how grateful we are for the awareness and funds raised. It makes such a difference to the lives of people with Down syndrome, as well as their friends and family. To have the support of organisations and business like that of Manor West Retail Park and Shopping Centre makes such a huge difference and something both I and our local branch here in Kerry are very thankful for.”
Looking forward to the arrival of the tour on August 9th, Derek Rusk, Centre Manager of Manor West said, “We are delighted to support the Tour de Munster charity cycle and the Kerry Branch of DSI on August 9th. This is our third year welcoming the cyclists to Manor West and it’s always a great celebration. By the time the cyclists arrive in Tralee, they will have travelled over 300km and we want to give them the best possible welcome, showing our support and encouragement.”
Since its inception in 2001, the tour has raised over €2.78 million for charity. Kicking off from Cork City on August 8th, the four day tour will make its way across the six counties of Munster before returning to Cork City on August 11th.
Celebrating the 10th year of its charity partnership with Down Syndrome Ireland Munster branches this year, the Tour de Munster charity cycle once again hopes to raise over €250,000. Paul Sheridan, founder of the tour said, “We are very much looking forward to our arrival to Tralee on August 9th. For the past three years, we have received such a great welcome at Manor West and after a tough days cycling, this gives us so much encouragement and motivation to get set for the second half of the tour. I would like to thank Derek Rusk and his team at Manor West for their continued support. I would also like to thank the members of DSI Kerry for their warm welcome and the people of Tralee and Kerry for their support of an event which will hopefully see a lot of money raised for the local branch.”
For more information on Manor West Shopping Centre and Retail Park and upcoming events please visit www.manorwest.ie or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on Tour de Munster and DSI please visit www.tourdemunster.com and www.downsyndrome.ie.
