IT Sligo student encourages people to get involved in Sligo Way Challenge
Hiking and Orienteering are two of the outdoor activities studied by first year students of IT Sligo’s Bachelor of Business (Recreation and Leisure), and one eager student plans to put what he has learned to practice straight away with an ambitious two-day hike across the Sligo Way on June 30 and July 1 in aid of a Moldavian Orphanage.
Sean Watters, from Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, is organising the challenge in aid of Outreach Moldova along with a friend from Dromahair, Co Leitrim – Brian McMorrow. Sean’s classmate, Sligo GAA Captain Ross Donovan has also signed up to take part.
The walk will start at Larrigan near Lough Talt in the Ox Mountains near the Mayo border and continue to Dromahair in County Leitrim, taking in views of Ben Bulben, Slieve League, the Isle of Inishfree and Lough Gill and reaching almost 900 metres at points.
The benefiting Charity, ‘Outreach Moldova’, was founded by an Irish woman Dr Suzanne O’Connell, and provides medical care and social inclusion for children that have been abandoned or orphaned and children with special needs and children with terminal illnesses.
Sean is encouraging people to get involved in the challenge. Having travelled to the orphanage last summer, he’s keen to raise as much money as possible for it again this year; “The children at the orphanage rely on volunteers that travel out there every summer,” he said. “The money raised by volunteers goes towards the running of the facility and during the two weeks we spend there, we help to keep the children active and engaged.”
He says he’ll be using a lot of the skills he has learned in his course at IT Sligo with the children at the orphanage when he returns there this August; “This year, we had a number of sessions with Shane Hayes from the Sligo Sports Partnership, who coached us in skill development, from the most basic level. Getting the children active helps them, mentally and physically.”
Participants in the challenge will camp overnight at a selected route along the way. Anyone who is interested in getting involved in The Sligo Way Challenge – or who would like to join the group for even part of the hike – can contact Sean at (087) 7550285 or by emailing tigersean007@nullhotmail.com
At the following links are the route of the challenge.
Sligo Way – Overview Map
SW – Map 1 Lough Talt to Easky Lough
SW – Map 2 Easky Lough to Dunowla
SW – Map 3 Dunowla to Ladies Brae
SW – Map 4 Ladies Brae to Coolaney
SW – Map 5 Coolaney to Colloney
SW – Map 6 Colloney to Slish Woods
SW – Map 7 Slish Woods to Dromahair
Caption: Pictured at the launch of the Sligo Way Challenge are lecturers on the Bachelor of Business (Recreation and Leisure) course Kerry Larkin and Roddy Gaynor, with students Sean Watters and Ross Donovan. From left to right: Kerry Larkin, Sean Watters, Ross Donovan and Roddy Gaynor.
