Charity fundraising will take on a new twist this weekend when Donegal will host the north west’s first Yoga Festival at the Isle of Doagh – and all in aid of two very worthy charities – Action for Hope (Pieta House) and the Childhood Cancer Foundation.
The organisers of the family festival, centred around the Famine Village on Sunday 28th August, are hoping to attract not only yoga fans, teachers and practitioners to the beautiful Inishowen location, but also hopes that those interested in discovering more about yoga will come along as well.
The event has been put together by co-founders Aisling Friel and Odel Ward who say the fun-packed family day will have something for everyone.
“Fundamentally the festival will be a celebration of yoga, in all its styles. Participants are asked to bring their own mats, although some mats will be available for beginners on the day,” Aisling said.
She added: “There will be a full programme of fun activities for all age groups while instructors will also be offering yoga for kids. There will be balloon workshops, face painting and arts & crafts also on the programme, the idea is to make it a really fun day for all the family.”
Money raised at the event on Saturday will be split between the Childhood Cancer Foundation and Action for Hope and Aisling explained why they had chosen those charities.
“Childhood Cancer Foundation has been extremely close to my heart ever since my niece was diagnosed with cancer when she was just 9 months old. She is now in remission for several years but as a family we have a lot to be thankful for and this is just one way of giving something back.”
Childhood Cancer Foundation is funding play services on St John’s paediatric cancer day unit at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin and recently committed to continue to fund this service until November 2018. The charity also funds the Beads of Courage programme, so all Donegal children who are treated for cancer are directly benefitting from these projects.
CCF promotes the recognition of the gold ribbon as the symbol of childhood cancer and is currently working on its 4th annual Light It Up Gold, awareness campaign which will once again run from 1st to 4th of this year. An Grianan Theatre, the Polestar and other many other buildings in the north west have already committed to the campaign
For her part, Odel has chosen Action for Hope – the group raising funds locally for the extension of services tackling self-harm and suicide to the north west. She hopes to see the location of a Pieta House facility in Donegal.
Saturday’s event will have classes for adults and children all day long, but parental supervision for the children is required at all times.
“We have a stunning beauty spot as a location and it exudes calmness and well being. If the weather is good, then great, but of not we will still have a fantastic day and we hope it can become the start of an annual charity Yoga Festival,” Aisling added.
Participants are asked to pay €10 per adult and €3 per child or a maximum of €30 per family.
“Everyone can be assured that the money will go to the two designated charities and they might even be lucky enough to win one of the many raffle prizes on the day.”
Anyone seeking more information can visit facebook.com/northwestyogafestival or call 078 4287458 or 00353 7872228227