Sligo Rovers asks fans to walk 50km in April to raise funds for club

The Sligo Rovers 50km Challenge fundraiser was launched this week, and begins on April 1st, with fans asked to take on the challenge to raise funds for the club.

You can register your fundraising page on 50kmChallenge.ie

It’s not a race, and participants can decide themselves how fast they want to go and what routes they want to take.

All that matters is that you post the distances to your fundraising page, record your steps, post and share photos of your walk across the club’s social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. See how you fare out on the 50km Challenge Leader board on the website in terms of steps taken and funds raised

All funds raised will go directly into the club to support the men’s senior and women’s senior reams, together with the 6 thriving teams in the club’s renowned academy.

It will also support the planned state-of-the-art world class stadium development at the Showgrounds which will be for the benefit of everyone in the Bit o’Red community.

Sligo Rovers has produced a beanie hat for the occasion as well and the first 500 lucky registrants will receive a free beanie.

How do I track my steps?

Participants are encouraged to track their kilometres covered offline and then upload screenshots to social media.

Participants in far flung places such as San Francisco, London and New York will be taking part in the event, so please let your friends and family overseas know they can join in as well.

If you have a cousin in Cairo or a sister in Sydney let them know - everyone is welcome to participate. This will be a truly global event for the club.

Sligo Rovers FC Chairman Tommy Higgins said “We are delighted to launch this event for Sligo Rovers Football Club. It promises to be a key and fun event in our club’s fundraising calendar.

“We would like to acknowledge the support of our supporters and followers in Sligo and around the globe and indeed that of our local stakeholders, Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership, Health Service Executive, Health Promotions and Sligo’s Atlantic Technical University.

“There is such goodwill out there for our community owned club and every day we are a step closer to realising our state-of-the-art world class stadium at the

Showgrounds” Mr Higgins concluded.

Cara O’Neill, HSE, Head of Health and Wellbeing added: “HSE Health and Wellbeing are delighted to partner with Sligo Rovers to encourage everyone to move more during the month of April.

“You’ll be amazed at how much better you will feel. Small changes can make a big difference to your health and wellbeing.

“By joining the Sligo Rovers April community walking programme, you are doing something positive to improve your health and wellbeing.

“This is a great opportunity to get out and get active and maybe encourage a friend to join you. The HSE will provide weekly healthy motivational messages throughout. So come on take your first steps to a healthier you.”

Sports Co-ordinator Deirdre Lavin said: “At Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership we are delighted to support SRFC 50K Challenge as it contributes to the achievement of our core objective of getting people of all ages physically active.

“Walking is an ideal form of exercise regardless of fitness levels and I encourage everyone to take part in the challenge and enjoy being active in the outdoors either in your neighbourhood or on one of the many wonderful woodland or coastal walks on our doorstep in Sligo.”

Reasons for Involvement:

1. It fits with our objective of getting people active

2. Suits all ages and abilities

3. Able to be done in all geographical part of the County

4. Opportunity for people to join local community walking groups once challenge is over and enjoyed sustained physical activity

5. Potential for people to become more aware of the many walking trails in the county (sligowalks.ie)

Yvonne Roach, Healthy Campus Co-ordinator , Atlantic Technological University Sligo said: “Healthy Campus at ATU Sligo is delighted to support the SRFC 50 Km Challenge. A key theme of a Healthy Campus is to encourage our campus population to be active, this is so important for our physical health but also for our mental health and wellbeing.”

“Ms Roach added “Our campus population also like a challenge, so we will be encouraging everyone to get out there during April and raise loads of money for Sligo Rovers Football Club.”