Pat in charity collection before Great North Run
SOUTH Armagh man Pat McGinn will be putting his best foot forward next month, when he runs the world-famous Great North Run half marathon for a cause close to his heart.
Pat, who is celebrating his 34th year in recovery from his own addiction, is raising funds for the Cuan Mhuire charity.
This Saturday (August 30), Pat and his team of ‘little helpers’ will be holding an all-day bucket collection in Camlough village as part of his Great North Run fundraising. The run itself is taking place on Sunday, September 7.
The well-known Camlough man, who recently retired after many years from his frontline work association with Sr Consilio and Cuan Mhuire Addiction Centres, said: “Addiction is a major public health crisis, and it needs to be talked about.
“The more we discuss it, the more awareness we create. And the more awareness we create, the more likely it is that we can stop what I really believe is society’s continued sleepwalk into the nightmare and living hell of addiction.
“There has to be an open, informed and honest discussion about tackling the issue, caring for those in addiction, supporting the families and communities impacted.
“Educating our young people from an early stage in their lives about what can go wrong if the mind or mood altering substance they are taking starts to ‘cost them more than the price of it’, and letting them know there is help, is a key element of any solution.”
Pat spoke of his gratitude for people like Sr Consilio, and those who, for years, operated at the ‘frontline’ of addiction when society itself, through fear, stigma or misunderstanding “turned the other way”.
“We should be grateful to the many health professionals, voluntary and community agencies, charities and fellowships who each play their part in tackling the scourge of addiction and the hurt and pain it brings to those impacted by it.
“Sr. Consilio, as a young nun in 1966, decided that she would do something for her fellow human being.
“She and her small team of carers stepped out in great faith, and despite all the challenges faced, they not only quietly and professionally nursed and cared for people in addiction from throughout Ireland but ensured that a light would be shone on the issue of alcoholism and the stigma attached.
“More than ever we need that same type of love, care and commitment today.”
For further in formation about the services offered at Cuan Mhuire please visit www.cuanmhuire.ie