Dean Rock Run against the Sun

No, it's not a tabloid headline from the Sun, but a great initiative by CUS Past Pupil Dean Rock.

Usually at this time of year Dean is training with his Dublin team mates in preparation for the GAA championship and an unheard of  6th Championship ina  row having won in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.

But his training sessions are now solitary with zoom team meetings.

It doesn't mean he's not busy - his day job as fundraising manager in Stewarts Hospital and on top of that with the Coronavirus crisis he's adapted his role and can add "chef", "courier" and "general gofer" to his job description.

The crisis has had a double edge in Stewarts - traditional funding areas have slowed, the jobs service users were working in are temporarily gone and with many living at home, it presents a whole lot of new challenges. 

In an interview for the Irish Times dean said

“A lot of our service users live at home and they may not have – and don’t have, in a lot of cases – the resources for communication that most people take for granted. It’s a big void suddenly appearing in their life. Basically if we can raise enough money to at least get them an iPad or a tablet so that they can interact with their friends and feel connected in some way to the people in their life, then we can start filling in that void.” 

So with his fundraising hat back on (his hair has grown consideraly over the past week, so its a snug fit!), he has come up with the "Run against the Sun Challenge". Have a look at his video describing what he is doing 

Then look at what these funds mean for people in Stewarts 

Run against the Sun: The Stewarts Care 150km Daylight Challenge

Donate via the GoFundMe Page
 

If making a donation, add a message that its from a CUS Past Pupil, to show Dean the support he has from Past Pupils  

On Friday 1st May CUS Past Pupil Dean Rock and four staff members will undertake a 150km run to raise funds to continue to provide quality services during this pandemic. The runners can only run from sunrise to sunset to complete this challenge and they must run 30kms each - a ‘Run Against the Sun’.

Donations will be used to buy equipment to enable service users and their families to stay connected during this difficult time.

TOGETHER WE CAN.