Tipp soldiers fundraising in Lebanon
Several local members of the Irish Defence Forces based in Lebanon, who are delayed from coming home due to Covid-19, are turning a difficult situation for them into something very positive for three Irish charities.
The Irish contingent of IRISHPOLBATT deployed to UNP 2-45 South Lebanon last November. Among them are a number of troops from Tipperary including Captain Margaret Hogan and Private James Collins, both from Burgess. There are also a number of soldiers from Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir, Roscrea, Clogheen, Clonmel and Thurles serving at UNP 2-45 at present. They were due to come home this month but their rotation home has been delayed by several weeks.
Together with their Polish colleagues they are now raising funds for three cancer charities - Milford Hospice, Limerick; Cork Arc Cancer Support and Waterford Hospice. The idea was put forward by personnel who have a personal connection to each of the charities concerned. Also a means of giving personnel some focus while awaiting new dates, over 200 soldiers will take on a mammoth challenge at the end of the month in order to raise funds for these charities.
On Saturday, May 30th, while awaiting their return home to be reunited with their families in Ireland, six members of the Battalion will be running the distance of a marathon up Snake Hill - a 500m hill within their compound; the combined height is the equivalent to Mount Everest. Meanwhile, five teams comprised of 23 personnel will be doing 10 1.1km laps each within their compound and including Snake Hill, the equivalent of 253km and a combined total of five climbs of Mount Everest.
On Sunday, May 31st, they are holding an ENGCON loaded march, where the Engineer Contingent of the Battalion have organised a challenge of a 25km/40km march within the camp, including Snake Hill, with 14kg weight.
Let’s show our solidarity with the IRISHPOLBATT. You can support them by donating to their GoFundMe page - https://www.gofundme.com/f/115bn-unifil-charity-weekend-3031-may-2020 and follow their event on https://twitter.com/irishpolbatt