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Truck Run '08 a bigger success than '07 (below)
Armed with a box of disposable cameras and a battered old banjo he bought in a second hand music shop in London Cormac Heron from Maghera set off in early October 2006 for Belgrade as a "goodwill" ambassador for Sporting Hearts.
Cormac's weekend brief was to bring a group of 50 children from the Roma Children's Centre in Belgrade to one of the cities many children's theatres, followed by a trip to the zoo and then finally a well earned happy meal in McDonalds.
Perhaps the most important feature of Cormac's brief was the insistence that he entertains and enthrals the children. This he did with the greatest of ease with some illusions and his singing and banjo playing as he walked the children through the centre of the Serbian capital.
" It was great to see the smiles erupt along the street with these singing and dancing kids. To think that none of them have been to either a theatre or a zoo in their lives is crazy. This is one of the best days of the year for them and I'm glad to be part of it. "
Cormac presented each child with a disposable camera so they could record their own personal photo diary of the day’s events. You can see a selection of their Photographs in our photo gallery.
Following to the success of his weekend with the Roma children in Belgrade Cormac has volunteered to take more kids to the theatre in April next year. If you wish to help him raise the funds for this trip all you have to do is click justgiving and make a donation to Sporting Hearts.
Objectives Sporting Hearts is established for the relief of poverty, the advancement of education and the promotion of health, and to provide aid to children from the former Yugoslavia who have been disadvantaged as a result of war or civil unrest or those who have suffered as a result of ethnic or religious discrimination and are now living as refuges and IDPs, throughout Serbia and Montenegro.
Resnik Refugee Camp
Sporting Heart has an ongoing project at the Resnik refugee camp on the outskirts of Belgrade. For the past two years we have been organising outings for the children who live there. Our second annual weekend of events was held on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th October 2005 and was hailed a huge success by both children and organisers a like. On Saturday we travelled to the Puzic children’s theatre in the centre of Belgrade to see a production of The Four Piglets. This was followed by a very boisterous kids meal in McDonalds. Following this the children walked to Knez Mihajlova (Main pedestrian area) where they took part in an afternoon of action and awareness highlighting the plight of refugees and IDPs living in Serbia and Montenegro. This day of awareness was organised by Group 484 who also coordinated and provided volunteers for our events. Sunday saw us journey once again by bus to the centre of Belgrade to visit Belgrade Zoo. Each child was given a disposable camera to record his or her unique photo diary of the day’s events. (click on gallery to view photos) By popular demand we made a very hungry B-line for McDonalds before journeying back home to the Resnik refugee camp.
Children's Play Area
When Big hearted lorry driver Kieren Conroy and his girlfriend Joanne Campbell, from Ballygawley and Omagh respectively, volunteered to travel to the Resnik refugee camp to help with this years weekend of events they had no idea that they would be so moved by the plight of the children that they would make a pledge to build safe a play area within the Resnik camp. Kieren and Joanne raised over £700 pounds for the trip and this has now been set-aside for the building of a play area in April 2006.
Spring Sports Camp
The Sporting Hearts spring sports camp will be held in April 2006 at Lake Palic . It will bring together teenagers form thirteen to nineteen years of age from refugee camps and collective centres throughout Serbia and Montenegro for a weekend of football, basketball, cycling, martial arts and an experimental introduction to Gaelic football, a first for the Balkans, coached by Sporting Hearts committee member Thomas Colton who has seven years coaching experience as a Tyrone county GPO. Thomas hopes to nurture a team of young player which, if we secure funding, he will bring to Ireland, in the not too distant future, for a series of games and coaching master classes.
" The average person could generate £40 every year free, if enough people switch it could make a massive difference to funds raised for Sporting Hearts. "
