Celebrity Dance Event Raises over €10,000 Despite Being Postponed

It was to have been a night of glitz and glam in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road, Dublin, as a host of well-known faces were due to strut their stuff in support of Breast Cancer Ireland, for the charity’s annual gala, Battle of the Stars. However, it was not to be. The event is now postponed until September 12. Instead, the charity’s community of supporters and survivors came together, online, on Saturday, April 4, to mark the day and raise much-needed funds to ensure that research and awareness of breast cancer can continue, once the current Covid-19 crisis passes.

Over €10,000 was raised through a simple ‘text €4’ campaign championed by many of those who were due to take part. These included Newstalk and Virgin Media presenter Clare McKenna, fashion broadcaster Michele McGrath, FM104 broadcaster Sean Munsanje, TV Presenter and performer Paul Ryder and former international rugby referee Alan Lewis (who sadly lost his younger sister Nicola Walker to the disease last year). Former participants – including TV and Instagram personality James PatriceDancing with the Stars finalist and Fair City actor Ryan Andrews, and former model and journalist Holly Carpenter were just some of those associated with the charity who lent their support by asking their online followers to donate.

Breast cancer survivors Paula McClean (seven years remission), Jill Murphy (just finishing treatment) and Juliette O’Connell (BCI Outreach Coordinator and breast cancer survivor) joined in the call-out with messages and, in some cases, a few moves of their own! The Good Glow Podcast’s Georgie Crawford, having being diagnosed two years ago and is also an ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland, took to her social media pages to call for support along with influencer Niamh Cullen and her pal, TV presenter and writer James Kavanagh. They were due to take part in the event this year and decided instead to record a charming TikTok dance routine. This was shared with their thousands of Instagram followers in an effort to garner support for continued investment into breast cancer research and into national awareness programmes.

Aisling Hurley, CEO of Breast Cancer Ireland, commented, “We were obviously disappointed that our annual gala, Battle of the Stars, was postponed, but this initiative championed by our amazing community of supporters and survivors was so heartening. It energises us all, even in these challenging days, so that once this crisis passes, our research teams in the labs will be ready to continue their work in transforming the landscape of breast cancer in Ireland.”

To donate, text ‘CURE’ to 50300 and a €4 donation will be made to Breast Cancer Ireland.

 

Share This Article

X