Ardnashee School 16,000km Charity Cycle: Meet the Kids

A group of 10 cyclists, who are seven weeks into a mammoth 16,000km challenge, cycled around the homes of some of the children across Derry in an ‘emotional journey’ on Saturday to get them involved, accompanied by Clare McDaid from the school’s PTA.

At each of the respective streets the young children took to their bikes to show the cyclists how it’s done.

The first home visited on the route was that of Emma O’Kane, a teacher at the school and parent of Ryan who is preparing to go into primary three and she explained how far the monies raised will go towards helping change the children’s lives for the better.

”Ryan has a rare condition called Phelan-McDermid syndrome and is the only person in Derry to be diagnosed with it,” she said.

“It affects him in a whole lot of different ways and through the school they’ve just been amazing since he joined.

“The teaching staff go over and beyond what they need to do in order to help the children. They treat them as if they are their own and give them every opportunity possible.

“The PTA, they do loads of fundraising and wee extras the school can’t afford to purchase for the children,” continued Emma. “They go out and get whatever they need for them.

“Their big fundraiser every year is the Strictly Come Dancing event and that didn’t happen this year because of Covid-19.

“So these cyclists have gone and decided to do a sponsored cycle and they’re hoping to raise up to £10,000 and that money will go a long way to providing extras that the school just can’t afford to give the children those extra wee things which make a massive, massive difference to the children and their lives.

"Things such as the fun day which happens in June and the santa visits and presents and Easter eggs at Easter.

“If I was to say I needed sensory toys for the classroom I would just go to Clare from the PTA and she would write me out a cheque for it.

“So the help and understanding from them is just absolutely amazing.”

Emma, a mum of three children, explains how Ardnashee is ‘one big family’ and why everyone involved support each other in making positive differences to the lives of the children and their families.

“I have three children and with Ryan being at Ardnashee you can see how much more personal the experience is. It’s like a big family at the school. Everybody is there to help each other.

“You don’t really understand that until you’re in that environment and see what’s happening on a day to day basis.

“I’ve only been at the school from September past and I just couldn’t believe how much of a big family the school is and how emotional and emotive the whole environment is and how uplifting it is when you see a child reaching even the smallest milestone. It’s just the biggest achievement and it’s celebrated by the whole school. It’s just wonderful to see.

“This money will go a massive way to helping these children out. The teachers just rely so much on the PTA for those wee things that the school just can’t buy and I’m sure this fundraiser will make a huge difference to the children throughout the next academic year.”

The group, namely Mark Crossan, Simon Collins, James McMonagle, Gary Curran, Marty McNutt, Ryan Magee, David Walker, Darren Boyle, John O'Connell and Dee O'Hara have reached an impressive total of 13,849kms collectively and are on target to hit the 16,000km mark in less than two weeks’ time.

So they’re well ahead of schedule following a fantastic effort for the past seven weeks.

So far an incredible £7,000 has been raised and if you would like to help push the total towards the £10,0000 mark please donate here The group would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous donations; Just Vape, Pro Gym, Wicked Vapours, The Mindset Junkie, Liquid State e-cig shop, The Fitness Box, Pro Gym, With Love Recipes,We Do It All Maintenance and media sponsors, The Derry Journal and Highlight Magazine.