Almost 1,000 walkers and strollers took to the rolling landscape of Ireland’s largest wind farm near Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, on Saturday to raise much-needed funds for local good causes.
They were taking part in this year's Airtricity Meentycat Community Fund Sponsored Walk which saw people of all ages and abilities complete a 15km walking route through Airtricity’s Meentycat Wind Farm at Ballybofey and the adjoining Culliagh Wind Farm at Drumkeen, Lifford, Co. Donegal.
Now in its 8th year, the Airtricity Meentycat Sponsored Walk is held annually to raise funds for worthy causes in the vicinity of the Airtricity wind farm. Over 40 local community bodies and groups from Ballybofey, Cloghan, Convoy, Curragh, Drumkeen, Letterkenny, Stranorlar, the Finn Valley, and other areas in the vicinity of the wind farm took part.
The participants completed the 15km route through the Airtricity wind farm in times ranging from just over 1 hour for the super-swift to just under 3 hours for those who wanted to take in the scenery. As well as raising much-needed funding, participating walkers also got a unique chance to get up close to many of the 63 wind turbines on the Meentycat and Culliagh Wind Farms. The walkers also enjoyed unrivalled views of some of Donegal’s most stunning natural landmarks including Mount Errigal to the northwest and Barnesmore Gap to the southwest, as well as catching a glimpse of the outskirts of Letterkenny town to the northeast.
Under Airtricity’s Meentycat Community Fund Programme, sponsorship raised by participating groups in the annual walk is topped-up by additional annual funding payments from the company. In the eight years of the Airtricity Meentycat Community Fund Sponsored Walk, community groups have received nearly €400,000 in combined sponsorship and payments from Airtricity.
This year’s total funding raised through sponsorship and top-up contributions from Airtricity will be announced in December, with the funding awards presented shortly after.
Anne Reynolds, Airtricity Community Development Officer, comments:
“The Airtricity Meentycat Community Fund Sponsored Walk is a very special event and one of the most popular activities we host each year and that everyone looks forward to. For the past eight years thousands of strollers, walkers and runners have trekked the 15km route of our Meentycat Wind Farm, and all for local good causes.
"Through our annual Sponsored Walk we're not only helping members of the community to raise much-needed local funding we're also providing people of all ages with an opportunity to experience Ireland's biggest wind farm up close. At Airtricity, we believe local communities, such as those around Meentycat and Culliagh, should see the benefit of each wind farm in their locality. That's why we proudly support the annual fundraising efforts through the Meentycat Sponsored Walk with additional funding from the Airtricity Community Fund. In total, we've helped to raise nearly €400,000 for the local community and we're looking forward to topping up that amount this year, and getting ever closer to the half million euro mark!”
To view all 63 pictures from the Meentycat Walk, click the image above for a direct link to the SSE Ireland Flickr account.