Imagine…
Grantee, Chris O’Donnell, has a few good reasons and some tips on how you can help the RGF:
“Hi guys, Chris O’Donnell here, just giving a quick thanks to the Rob George Foundation who helped support me on a warm-weather training camp last month. It’s an exciting year ahead with three major Championships to aim for. These are the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March, the World Championships in Oregon in July, and the European Championships in Munich in August. The training camp will help prepare me as best as possible for these major Championships, especially the latter two which will be in a very hot climate. I felt the benefits before Tokyo last summer where we had a holding camp elsewhere in Japan before the Olympics, and the results really paid off. I will have a lot to thank the Foundation for providing all goes well this year so I’m just encouraging everyone to donate via the website www.therobgerogefoundation.org which can be done through a one-off or monthly donation. You can also help support the foundation at no cost when shopping online by signing up to Easyfundraising or Give As You Live, and by becoming a member of the make a smile lottery. It’s for a great cause so I’m encouraging everyone to support the best they can.
I can’t thank the RGF enough for helping me this far. To be honest, it’s an expensive sport when competing at the highest level and not being on a level playing field funding-wise as your competitors across the continent. Despite last year competing in the final of the Tokyo Olympic Games, reaching 3rd on the all-time Irish list for 400 metres and being ranked Word top-50 and European top-20, along with having a lot of media exposure, the sponsors did not come knocking on the door like we thought they might have. The RGF has been my only source of funding outside the goodwill of my parents. The costs involve include travelling to essential training camps and races abroad, accessing kit, nutrition, physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, etc.”
We wish Chris every success for 2022!
