A man who set up a community-based organisation following his son's death from suicide was in Fermanagh this month as he looks to raise awareness for suicide bereavement support and prevention around Ireland and to inspire others to set up similar supports in their local communities.
Bunny O'Riordan and his team from Midleton, Co. Cork, visited the area halfway through their '32 County Cuddle Run', seeing huge support everywhere they have been so far.
For the Cuddle Run, Bunny is driving his son Cian's motorbike around the island of Ireland, spending one day in each county.
Speaking to The Impartial Reporter about the initiative, Michael Noonan, part of the group travelling with Bunny, said the reception they received at the Round O in Enniskillen was brilliant.
"We had a big crowd show up at the stop, and I suppose the big surprise for us was the PSNI. They sent out two cars, and five officers spent about half an hour to three-quarters of an hour at the gazebo we set up," he explained.
"There was an awful lot of interaction. There were about 30 or 40 people gathered."
Speaking about Bunny's motivation for completing the challenge, Michael said: "He just feels that there is a serious shortage of help for those people that have been bereaved by suicide."
Bunny had planned to give his son the bike on his 18th birthday, but he died two months before that.
"After many years of doing nothing, he started working on it to do it up, and what happened was friends and other people came in to help to help him put the motorbike all back together, and he just found that that was a rehabilitation that wasn’t available anywhere."
And this in turn led to the creation of the Midleton Hub, with Bunny looking to encourage others all across Ireland to do something similar.
Michael explained: "There are three reasons we are doing the 32 days around the 32 counties. He [Bunny] is promoting this concept all around Ireland.
"He is also riding Cian's bike himself around the 32 counties for the 32 days, and we are also raising funds for the Midleton Hub, because we are expanding now to provide mindfulness, yoga and I suppose because what he [Bunny] has witnessed is almost 50 per cent of the people coming to the hub are females," said Michael.
Due to finish next week on September 2, Bunny, Michael and the other supporters are looking to raise as much awareness as possible, and Michael has been blown away by how well received they have been.
"What I can't get over myself is the response that we are getting in every county. The positive response we are getting for this concept [is brilliant].
"Bunny firmly believes that every town or every county all across Ireland should have a hub, should have a safe place for people to go."
To keep up to date with the 32 County Cuddle Run, check out the Midelton Hub on Facebook and Instagram.
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