Poppa Jim is no ordinary 95 year old. His target in 2022 was to virtually cycle around Ireland this calendar year.
Unbelievably he is 6 months ahead of schedule and will complete his 1,056 km cycle before the end of June.
With failing health during lockdown he started doing a little bit on a cycling machine to help his sore knees. The rest is history.
From his daughter’s living room he will have cycled from Belfast to Dublin to Waterford to Cork to Limerick to Galway to Sligo to Derry/Londonderry and back to Belfast – completing his marathon at a special fundraising Fun Family Cycle on Saturday 25th June at Craigavon Lakes.
He is raising funds to complete Charlene Secondary School in Uganda named after his granddaughter who passed away in 2010 aged just 20 years old.
He will have just reached his 96th birthday as he continues fundraising for Stage 2 of Charlene Secondary school in Uganda. Stage 2 includes the Boys Boarding Block, Administrative block, Shower block, Solar installation, providing generator back up, ensuring internet connection to school, completing the road and paths at the school, extending water provision throughout the whole school campus and purchasing the remaining school desks and furniture for the school. Phase 1 is finishing with classroom block, 2 laboratories, girls dormitory, teacher accommodation, toilet blocks, dining hall/kitchen almost complete.
