Abseil Challenge raises €130,000 for Dóchas Offaly Cancer Support Group

A total of 100 abseilers took to the roof of Croke Park on Saturday October 19 to abseil 150 feet from the roof of the Hogan Stand to the hallowed ground below, all to raise funds for Dóchas Offaly Cancer Support Group.

Bookended by two very poor days weatherwise, the conditions could not have been better for the event and the sun shone down on the participants as they scaled to the roof for the descent.

The fundraising initiative commenced with the launch of the campaign on June 19, with the support of Irish Rugby International and Leinster Rugby Star Robbie Henshaw.

Such was the demand by participants that no sooner had registration opened was it closed again with 100 people signed up for the campaign.

Each participant raised funds over the following months in the lead up to the big day and all had a target to reach of €300.

The campaign has reached heights beyond the wildest expectations of the charity and to date over €130,000 has been raised with more money expected over the coming weeks.

Dóchas Offaly Cancer Support Group Service Manager John Conroy said, “This campaign has truly been beyond anything we expected, and we cannot thank the entire community enough for their support.

“The level of fundraising has been phenomenal with all factions of our community getting involved. We have attended bake sales, raffles, pub quizzes, workplace challenges and pub nights as people have all come up with ingenious ideas to meet their target.

"We can’t thank the abseilers enough, all the businesses who have supported the campaign and to each single donor who has donated towards any of the abseilers. It has been a resounding success.”

Dóchas Offaly Cancer Support Group provides vital psycho-social cancer support services to people living in Offaly and the wider Midlands.

Below is a collection of images of some of the participants on the day.

Scroll through the arrows on each picture to see complete gallery.