This year, we are taking part in the London Marathon to raise funds that will be used to employ and commission Irish artists to create and perform throughout the autumn and winter. These funds will help enable us to continue bringing the very best of Irish talent to London.
Throughout the pandemic, our cultural programme brought joy to many and kept people connected.
Here Brendan tells us why he’s running this year:
“Hi I’m Brendan, Arts & Culture Manager at the London Irish Centre. I work with a fantastic team of people to deliver all the Events, Education and Heritage at the Centre and online. I also work as part of the wider LIC team to support the Irish Community in London.
During the pandemic artists have been some of the worst affected financially due to the events industry completely shutting down and only now starting to re-open. All our Cultural work during the pandemic was focused on supporting Irish artists through this difficult time. I’d like to continue supporting Irish artists and have decided to volunteer for the London Marathon to raise funds specifically to be paid directly to Irish musicians and performers. As a song writer myself I feel that without the arts the pandemic would have been an even more difficult and dark time for so many.
I’ve never been in any way athletic but during the first lockdown when we were only allowed to go outside for exercise I decided to start running to stave off cabin fever. Until training for this marathon the furthest I had run was 10 kilometres. The training has been really gruelling and any support you can offer would massively help me feel like it’s all been worthwhile. I won’t be aiming to break any world records for my first marathon but will be happy to make it over that finish line and in doing so hope to raise as much as I can for Irish artists.”
During the pandemic, our cultural programme:
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