Taking The Peak

The youngest & oldest climbers, Saoirse & John Alvey 23JULY22

atest press release from ReWild Wicklow, issued on Monday, July 24th 2022…

Newly-formed local community group ReWild Wicklow have announced their first fundraising event.

On Saturday 23rd July, 21 volunteers from the community group ReWild Wicklow completed their Reach the Peak challenge fundraiser by climbing to the top of Lugnaquilla.

Organisers Maria O’Loughlin & Simon Alvey

It was a very wet day and conditions were challenging with visibility very low, but with International Mountain Leader Niall Ennis at the helm, the group safely navigated their way to the summit and back.

“The weather was not what we hoped for,” said chairperson of ReWild Wicklow, Danny Alvey, “but that made the challenge all the more rewarding! We had a great range of volunteers who joined us on the day. They aged from 11 to 77 and we had one from as far away as New Zealand. We also had a member of the group, James Timmons, who only ten months ago broke his back, neck and two legs in a motorbike race accident. James had to use a wheelchair after that and learn to walk again through physio, so for him to get to the point of climbing a mountain today was very special for him.

“This fundraising event will be to raise funds for our Snapshot Europe project,” continued Danny Alvey. “This is an initiative that will see the most extensive camera trap monitoring of mammals in Ireland ever, happen right here in Wicklow, across September and October. Snapshot Europe began last year and just 10 camera traps were deployed as Ireland’s contribution to this Europe-wide report on mammals. This year ReWild Wickow are partnering with the UCD Wildlife Department to raise funds for as many camera traps as possible and our volunteers will deploy and monitor them.”

Mad feckers

A full camera trap setup costs €218 and, as a special thank you, every fundraiser who reaches this target will get the opportunity to name it. Every image shared online and in the media will mention the name of the camera it was captured on.

As a way of honouring a loved once, local businesses and individuals have already got involved to sponsor and name cameras as part of the project.

The group are asking the public to help put Wicklow at the forefront of European conservation and donate to their fundraiser here.

“We’re delighted to have raised €3,500 of our €4,000 goal,” said Danny. “And there is still some time left if anyone would like to show their appreciation of our wet mountain warriors and donate at our GoFundMe page.”