Letter written by 12-year-old boy is ‘etched into my mind’
A FETTERCAIRN man will undertake a 72-hour motorcycle rally this month, which will see him visiting every Jigsaw location in the country to raise funds for the youth mental health charity.
Damian Sheridan, who works as a facilities officer for the charity, was inspired to raise funds for the charity after reading a heart-warming handwritten letter from a 12-year-old boy.
“I remember helping out with the post during the pandemic, and one handwritten letter we received has been etched into my mind,” said Damian.
“A 12-year-old boy wrote a letter. In it, he thanked Jigsaw for making his sister happy again, which he said made all his family happy.
“He said his family had so much to look forward to now. He explained in the letter that he collected wood that he found from the ground at the forest near where he lived.
“He cut it up and sold it as firewood in his local community. To the best of my memory, he raised nearly €300 which he donated to Jigsaw, thanking them for everything they had done for his sister.
“This, to me, was a powerful message of the work Jigsaw does – not only for young people struggling with mental health, but the effect it has on the whole family.”
This spurred Damian on to fundraise for Jigsaw, with his fundraiser combining his love of motorcycling with his passion for the work that Jigsaw does.
Alongside his colleague Daryl D’Art, who works as an IT officer for Jigsaw, Damian will set off from Lidl Belgard on July 28 at 9.15am and will go on to visit 16 Jigsaw hubs across the country over 72 hours, covering 1,200km.
When asked how preparations are going, Damian told The Echo: “I’m a keen motorcyclist anyway, so my day-to-day travel to and from work is on a motorbike.
“Jigsaw have locations from Donegal to Cork and everywhere in between, so it’s a long distance. We were going to try to do it in 24 hours, but we peeled it back to 72 hours.”
The duo recently set up an online fundraiser on iDonate.ie, under the heading Jigsaw Photo Rally 2022, which at the time of going to print had already raised over €3,000.
“This is the first time I’ve ever done something like this, and the response to it has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Damian.
“Lidl got behind it and they’re sponsoring it. Chartered accountants Merry Mullin are sponsoring the fuel costs, and loads of local businesses have donated raffle prizes.
“All of the funds raised will be given to Jigsaw in a general donation, it’ll go in with the overall funding they receive. We haven’t requested for it to go into one specific area.”
Damian and Daryl will travel to, and take photos at, every one of Jigsaw’s 16 locations around the country over the course of 72 hours, starting on July 28.
To donate, or find out more about the fundraiser, visit HERE.
