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Sophie is Cancer Society's youngest fundraiser

February 27th, 2016 8:52 AM

By Southern Star Team

Sophie O'Sullivan: organising a fundraiser.

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The Irish Cancer Society said they have never had anyone so young and so determined raising money for them, but as it is a charity very close to Sophie O’Sullivan’s heart

THE Irish Cancer Society said they have never had anyone so young and so determined raising money for them, but as it is a charity very close to Sophie O’Sullivan’s heart, she decided to organise a walk to raise money for research.

The 14-year old took it on herself to contact the Society and when they sent her out the paperwork, she lost no time in filling it in and making the event official.

The charity walk will take place at 1pm on Sunday, February 28th next. The starting point is ‘The Lookout’ in Ballydehob and will follow the popular Stouke ring walk. 

The walk will end at the old bank house where refreshments – courtesy of Ballydehob Community Council – will be served.

To promote the event, Sophie got posters made and put them up all over Ballydehob village. She also put them up in Field’s SuperValu in Skibbereen, and more in Schull.

Sophie spoke to every class in Schull Community College about the walk and the work done by the Irish Cancer Society, and she visited the national school in Ballydehob as well.  

To raise awareness, she set up a Facebook page, an events page, and a Go Fund Me account as well. 

The Irish Cancer Society was so impressed by her efforts that their staff have been tweeting about Sophie’s initiative and now the event is attracting nationwide interest and support.

Sponsorship cards are available from Sophie and her mother, Rebecca, or people can just turn up on the day and pay a €10 registration fee, which will go directly to the charity.

Sophie is quite the campaigner, having recently had a letter calling for greater dialogue about bullying printed in a national newspaper. 

Sophie believes the topic is not talked about enough within schools and in public. 

She said she had particular worries over cyber bullying, which is targeted at 14-17 year olds and can have a traumatic effect on a young person’s life.

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