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DOMINIC HORAN Shankill Events Coordinator, GOAL M
ile “I’m involved in athletics and my running club, Bray Runners, do a lot of their training in Shanganagh Park. There wasn’t a GOAL Mile there, and I felt it was a good catchment area so, since I saw a potential opportunity, I reached out to the organisation in 2014 and asked how you’d go about putting on a GOAL Mile in Shankill. The team there were very supportive, took me through the various considerations that I’d need to plan, gave me whatever materials I’d need to help promote and publicise the event. I have two kids aged 13 and 15, and I was quite keen on them seeing that Christmas is a little bit more than just receiving. I wanted to make sure that they took up that sense of social responsibility, and saw they were in a privileged position that others may not be in. “In terms of the local community, there was already good awareness surrounding [the charity]. A lot of people who, say, had just moved to the area would have done previous GOAL Miles [in their former neighbourhoods], and thought it was absolutely fantastic. It’s an opportunity to step away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas Day for a small amount of time – 30 minutes, an hour… On the one hand, they’re building up a few credits in their calorie burn before they sit down for Christmas dinner, and at the same time they know that they’re giving to a very worthwhile charity. “The work that GOAL do overseas is fantastic. Their overseas aid is more about making sure that they put in sustainable programmes into a country, to allow that country to be selfmanaged when GOAL step away. Rather than just coming in and giving them a whole pile of food and medical supplies, they want to build an infrastructure that’s going to sustain them. “We have three runs scheduled on Christmas It’s an opportunity to step away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas Day for a small amount of time. morning. Many of the people that come and help me on the day are from my running club, so I put a GOAL Mile on for them at 9 o’clock. They’re all done and dusted by 9:10, and then we can all get into our various roles for the morning’s events. The runs are organised for 9:30, 9:40 and 9:50: the course doesn’t overlap itself, so we can start them all on time. I can say to [volunteers], ‘come down at 9 o’clock, you’ll be finished by 10:15’. It’s a splash and dash. “It’s grown quite organically over the last four years or so. We started off with 100 participants, and last year we had over 300; while the donations have grown from just over €1,000 in year one to €2,500 last year. What I’d say to potential first-timers is this: come out, have a bit of exercise, engage with people who are like-minded.. it’s a great morning for families to go to. You don’t have to be a good runner, a lot of people just walk – kids are coming along in their brand-new scooters. There’s a sense of family, there’s a sense of occasion, and there’s a sense that you’re giving a little to those less fortunate.” goalglobal.org/events/event/goal-mile 48