Charity Bed Push Dublin Bound

A local manufacturing company is set to undertake a three-day bed push from Belfast to Dublin in a bid to raise more than £5,000 for Irish charity GOAL.

Ballinderry-based ConveyorTek will begin the challenge at Belfast City Hall on Friday 30 September and hope to finish at Dublin airport on Sunday 2 October.

The twenty-four plus strong team plan to spend 14 hours on the road on Friday, 16 hours on Saturday and 10 hours on Sunday to ensure they reach their destination by the end of the weekend.

Stopping in several towns along the way, including Hillsborough, Banbridge, Newry, Dundalk and Drogheda, the team is hoping for support throughout their journey to help them raise their financial target.

GOAL is an international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poor in the developing world.

Founded in 1977, the organisation has spent in excess of €720 million on humanitarian programmes in more than 50 countries.

GOAL spokeswoman Lisa O’Shea said: "I would like to thank ConveyorTek for supporting us and we wish the team the best of luck with their challenge. GOAL can use the money raised to help support our response to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, where we are providing aid to refugees streaming across the borders in their thousands from Somalia into Ethiopia and Kenya."

Spokesman for ConveyorTek, Phil Trimble, commented: "We have an employee connection with GOAL and are very impressed with the work the charity carries out, so it is a natural choice for us. We decided to take up the bed push to give everyone in the company the chance to get involved regardless of fitness level.

"We are calling on the public to support us along the route – both financially and also by cheering us on. Although we are focused on achieving our £5,000 total, we also want to have a bit of fun along the way so that the whole company can enjoy the experience."

(JG/DW)