Former Leinster and Ireland hooker and Goal patron Shane Byrne is encouraging schoolchildren and workers from throughout the island of Ireland to take part in Goal Jersey Day on Friday, October 5 and to donate what they can afford towards the aid organisation’s aid programmes in the developing world.
Members of the public young and old are urged to wear the jersey of their favourite team for one day and make a donation of €2 to Goal. Each year, thousands of schools and companies take part right across the country.
Byrne visited Goal programmes in Haiti this summer, including a number of schools that the agency re-built and equipped with water and sanitation services, following their destruction in the major earthquake which struck the Central America country two years ago.
“The money raised on Jersey Day will make a huge difference to vulnerable families and children in the developing world and I’ve seen that for myself in India and in Haiti,” Byrne said. “Goal is investing in places like Haiti and to invest in any country, you need to invest in their children. I visited one school that was rebuilt in three months in a remote area that’s helping to educate hundreds of children in the region.
“At another school, Goal had constructed a well that provides clean, fresh water to the children and families living in the wider community,” Byrne added. “The problems in places like Haiti are huge, but there are rays of light when you go out and see the difference that help has made to people’s lives.”
To register for Goal Jersey Day and receive a start-up pack, visit www.goal.ie
