The Saffron Gaels Brendan McTaggart and daughter, Aoibheann, have their passports ready for the summer as they look to raise funds for ALPS Charity.  Brendan tells us a little about the charity and how they took up the challenge…

ALPs are a wonderful charity.  From the outskirts looking in, anyone that helps in their line of work are to be commended.  After a brief chat with Ronan Gilchrist (ALPs founder) at their brilliant Santa’s Grotto in Portglenone, it edged me a step closer to what I wanted to do.  If I was going to do any form of charity work or fundraising, this would be the charity.

For anyone who doesn’t know of ALPs – it stands for All Lives are Precious.  They have bases in Downpatrick and Portglenone and have grown incredibly since 2014.  They provide services to improve health and wellbeing in the north and south of Ireland.  They offer counselling, training and other services to individuals, families and communities.

This July, me and my second eldest, Aoibheann, are taking on a camino walk in Portugal – The Portuguese Way.  It’s a trek between Porto and Valencia that takes in over 100km which we will be doing over six days.

It’s both a wonderful opportunity and what we hope will be a fascinating experience.  How Aoibheann will cope with seven solid days and no respite from her mum of me and my bad jokes will possibly be her biggest task. 

The walk itself is described as both physically and spiritually challenging but incredibly fulfilling.  It’s one step into a journey that we both want to continue after July.  I have a feeling that when we get a taste for this type of experience, it may become intoxicating and we won’t be long in signing up for our next challenge.  For the moment, that’s the plan.

We have to raise a minimum of £3000 between us for the trip and we’re asking for the help of the gaels throughout Antrim and beyond.

I have created a Just Giving page, here is the link that will take you directly to the page:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brendan-mctaggart?utm_term=wM2rnV7KJ

Any help would be greatly appreciated, no matter how big or small. 

Six days, over 100 km, a couple of batteries in the camera, what can possibly go wrong?

Right?

Six months to prepare, I’ll probably have to start getting ready and preparing for it in some way.  That will keep to between covering matches, work and coaching.

A piece of cake, really.

It’s something that I have been wanting to do for some time and it’s something that I’ve been keen to get my daughters involved in.  It’s not quite ‘New Year, New Challenge’.  I signed us up for this before Christmas but what better way to start 2025 than to have my mind set on a challenge like this?

That’s the positive mentality trying to stay prominent.  If you see me at the side of the pitch between now and then, that positive mentality may not be as prevalent.

Thank you in advance for any donations!

Brendan & Aoibheann McTaggart