Irish Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal - Drift Ride-Along at Mondello Park

Paddy@CIRL

Irish Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal
Passenger Rides with Martin Ffrench in the Wexican Motorsport Toyota Altezza
at Mondello Park, Saturday March 19th 2011

March 15th 2011
For Immediate Release
Waterford, Rep. of Ireland – Following the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Wexican Motorsport is looking to raise awareness and funds to support the victims of this tragic event.

On Saturday March 19th, Wexican Motorsport will be present at the Mondello Park Drifting Practice Day to test their newly unveiled SR20 powered Toyota Altezza. As part of this event, Wexican Motorsport will be offering passenger rides in the car in a bid to raise funds and awareness for the Irish Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

For a €10 minimum donation, anyone present on the day will have the opportunity to experience two laps of the Mondello Park Drift course layout alongside veteran drifter Martin Ffrench. Alongside Martin, WKD Imports will be providing support cars so those in attendance are guaranteed an exciting day.

All proceeds from the day will be donated to the Irish Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. The Irish Red Cross is a registered charity, number CHY 3950

If you are unable to attend but will still like to contribute to this cause or the recent earthquake in New Zealand, please visit the Irish Red Cross website at http://www.redcross.ie/

For Further Information, Please Contact:
Paddy McGrath
PMCGPHOTOs
00.353.87.1311404
paddy@pmcgphotos.com

-Chris-

This is a great initiative Paddy, fair play for publicising it. I'll do my best to be there!! :D

EPM

Best of luck with it Paddy. Might try and take a spin up for it.

antodeco

Ill try get up too. Any nice cars on show for it?

Alkers

Japan has refused the offer of Irish aid:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056209457

Graham_B18C

What time on Saturday does this kick off?

antodeco

Ah balls. Thought this was Sunday. Not in the country the Sat

Paddy@CIRL

antodeco wrote: »

Ill try get up too. Any nice cars on show for it?

It's a regular drift practice day but I've heard a lot of the regular pro-class competitors will be out testing their new 2011 cars.

Simona1986 wrote: »

Japan has refused the offer of Irish aid:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056209457

This news bulletin has become the bane of my life ! Yes, the Japanese Government has refused an offer of aid from the Irish Government but this fundraiser is for the Irish Red Cross who are supporting the Japanese Red Cross who do need all the help they can get !

Graham_B18C wrote: »

What time on Saturday does this kick off?

Driver sign-on is at 9am with the track opening shortly after that.

antodeco wrote: »

Ah balls. Thought this was Sunday. Not in the country the Sat

These practice days always seem to run on a Saturday so there isn't much we can change about that I'm afraid. If you still want to donate, you can still do so on www.redcross.ie

Paddy@CIRL

A couple of small points to mention :

1. To gain access to Mondello as a spectator, there is a €10 charge on the gate

2. Gates open at 8.30AM and the day should run to 5.00PM with an hour lunch break in the middle.

3. The minimum age for those wishing to take up the offer of a passenger ride is 18 years. This will have to be strictly enforced.

CompleteCarGuy

http://www.completecar.ie/news/article/781/Irish-Red-Cross-Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

CompleteCarGuy

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/motors/2011/03/16/go-drifting-to-help-out-the-japan-tsunami-appeal/

Della Digby

Considering that the Irish Red Cross Society or should I say the Vice Chairman of the Irish Red Cross in Tipperary was found to have hidden 162k of Tsunami money in an account which was only discovered 3 years later, after a secret audit. The Irish Red Cross have it is believed taken 600k form the Haiti Appeal to finance an expensive court case against Google and UPC which they had to stop.

I would suggest that if you do raise money please do give it to the Red Cross, but make the cheque out to the International Federation of the Red Cross Japan Appeal so that it cannot be misused in Ireland. Two parties in the recent election proposed major governance changes within the Red Cross in Ireland. This does not mean the Red Cross is bad just a few individuals who have been in power for over 20 years who need to be disposed of.

Check out this Blog which details everything !

http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/12/irish-red-cross-members-protest-outside.htm

Della Digby

http://governancereformatirishredcross.blogspot.com/2010/12/irish-red-cross-members-protest-outside.html

Sorry this the correct link.

Paddy@CIRL

I'll read into that Della, thank you.

A bump for a reminder, word is slowly getting around with more and more people pledging support, help, tires and fuel. I'm really excited to see what happens on the day !

Della Digby

It is very interesting indeed that RTE choose to interview Mr Noel Wardick on prime time this was the man who blew the whistle on the money sitting in accounts in Tipperary 162k for three years which was destined for the victims of the last Tsunami. Mr Wardick was given the prize of being sacked for gross misconduct for letting us know that the vice chairman of the Irish Red Cross was involved in the hiding of this money which would have helped the people of the Tsunami. Then Mr Wardick brought it to our attention that they also took money out of the Haiti Appeal 600k.

What did the management do they closed ranks and employed a high paid consultant externally to spin lies to the press. What is needed is the Irish public to demand that those responsible are held accountable and sacked for ever from this wonderful organisation.

If RTE hold Mr Wardick in high esteem so should we. He will no doubt have all those responsible gathered at his court case to defend why they have acted in such an inhuman way.

Needless to say the silence coming from Merrion Square says it all.

Gary ITR

Big thanks to Ffrenchie for bringing me out in the Nissan Altezza Serious car to go. Also thanks to Paddy for letting myself and Chris jump the queue, we were a little pressed for time unfortunately

-Chris-

Yep, thanks to Paddy, and to Chris in Brady's Motorsport for trying his best to give me brown trousers. Nice fella and pretty damn skilled pilot.

Paddy@CIRL

Update March 20th



Having organised a last-minute fund raiser in aid of the Irish Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal, Wexican Motorsport are proud to announce that the effort was more than worth it having raised more than double the original target they had set out.

Due to unprecedented demand, extra cars and drivers needed to be drafted in to help cope with the demand on the day for the drift passenger laps. Even mechanical issues were not enough to put a dampener on the day as more drivers volunteered their services and cars in a bid to ensure that everyone who signed up and donated to the appeal was given their reward. Having burned their way through 20+ tires, we are confident that those kind enough to support the appeal were given a worthy experience.

Wexican Motorsport and PMCGPHOTOs would like to offer a special thanks to Wesley Keating of WKD Imports for transporting the car on the day and providing drift passenger laps. We would also like to thank Barry Leonard, Dan Moorhead, Chris Brady, Peter Taylor, Adam O’Connor and Brendan Kearney for providing the extra driving duties and Christy Carpenter and Alvin Reid for providing spare tires for the day. The success of the day was entirely down to the spirit and camaraderie within the Irish Drifting Community.

If you were unable to attend but will still like to contribute to this cause or the recent earthquake in New Zealand, please visit the Irish Red Cross website at http://www.redcross.ie/

challengemaster

Onkle wrote: »

Big thanks to Ffrenchie for bringing me out in the Nissan Altezza Serious car to go. Also thanks to Paddy for letting myself and Chris jump the queue, we were a little pressed for time unfortunately

meant to text you actually but figured you'd be driving, only about 4-8 laps after yours it started falling apart The arches came off, took the rear bumper off and eventually the diff went.

Paddy, delighted it went well, I had a hell of a time, Wez made sure of that

Paddy@CIRL

Just to confirm the lodgement of funds ...

Dear Mr. McGrath and Mr. Ffrench,

Thank you for donating to our Japan Tsunami Appeal. We are extremely grateful to everyone involved in organising the event in Mondello Park. Here are some of the things your gift of €600 will make possible:

We are supporting the Japanese Red Cross, who has already deployed 86 medical teams, made up of over 600 doctors, nurses and support staff, to provide first aid and healthcare and assess the damage and needs of the communities affected.

More than 300,000 people, who were evacuated before the tsunami struck, have been housed in temporary centers set up in schools and public buildings, where the Red Cross is distributing hot meals, relief items and blankets.

You are the person who makes all this possible. We really couldn’t do it without you!

If you would like to know more about what your gift is achieving, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on 01 642 4626, or drop me a line at rryan@redcross.ie. You can also keep up with our latest news and activities by visiting our website www.redcross.ie.

From all of us here at the Irish Red Cross, a heartfelt thank you. if you require a hard copy of the receipt please let me know.


Kindest regards,

Gráinne O'KELLY
Fundraising Assistant
________________________________

Irish Red Cross/Crois Dhearg na hÉireann
16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2