‘East meets West’ as local ladies host special fundraising event for Irish Charity ‘To Russia With Love’
Fundraising event will see first ever Connemara Man Competition take place
Irish Charity ‘To Russia With Love’ is set to benefit from an ‘East meets West’ themed event that will take place in The Courtyard, Station House, Clifden, Co. Galway on Thursday, August 14th. Local business women Sharon Griffin from ‘Ohh! By Gum’ and Treena Sweeney of ‘Design Platform’ have created the specially themed fundraiser that will encompass the best of the West with all that the East, as far as you want to go, has to offer.
Taking place in a specially decorated marquee in The Courtyard, Clifden, guests will enjoy an ‘Eastern Cocktail Reception’ with live music and performance, followed by a Run-Way Entertainment show that will feature local boutiques and clothing stores with live music that will go late into the night. The Run-Way show will promote ethical fashion and will include wears from two new Irish brands, Cork based ‘Earth Tribe’ and Galway label ‘The Tweed Project’. Stores in The Courtyard, Station House will have pop-up shops where a host of activities from other local businesses will take place.
As part of the fundraiser and for the first year ever, some of Connemara’s most eligible men will compete for the title of ‘The Connemara Man’. The men will be aged between 18-108, single and living in Connemara. These men will represent their local business or organisation and text voting for these candidates starts two weeks prior to the event. Regardless of who wins each candidate and their sponsor will raise valuable funds for the charity.
Sharon Griffin, Owner of OHH! By Gum an ethical boutique store for women and children explains “We are delighted to host this fundraiser for ‘To Russia With Love’. For the past 15 years under the leadership of Debbie Deegan, ‘To Russia With Love’ has loved, cared for and educated thousands of children. Many of whom have gone onto become lawyers, doctors and accountants. It is an honour for us to organise an event, here in the west for this wonderful Irish charity and we are sure it will be a huge success”
2014 has been a challenging year for ‘To Russia With Love’ with the charity struggling to make ends meet to continue their work in Russia. Debbie Deegan, Founder of ‘To Russia With Love’ says “We have hundreds of children under our wings and every donation is very precious. Now more than ever before, we need the support of the public to ensure that we can continue improving the lives of the abandoned and orphaned children. We are very grateful to Sharon and Treena for organising this fundraiser for us in Clifden.”
‘To Russia With Love’ is an Irish charity founded in 1998 by Debbie Deegan. Since then the charity has transformed the lives of over 5,000 abandoned and orphaned Russian children. With the support of the Irish public the charity now offers its programmes of care in many orphanages across Russia teaching life skills for a brighter future and providing children with improved living conditions, healthcare and education. A tireless campaigner and fundraiser Debbie managed to bring Oscar nominated studio Brown Bag films on board to create a short animated feature film titled ‘Anya’ that was released in April 2014 and can be viewed online.
Tickets cost €30.00 and are available from Millars, Main Street, Clifden on 095-21038 and Ohh! By Gum, The Courtyard Station House,095-21334. To find out more about the event see facebook.com/theconnemaraman and about the work of ‘To Russia With Love’ or to make a donation see www.torussiawithlove.ie
