North West Regional College Assistant Team Leader with the Princes Trust Conor Hassan is to run the Belfast marathon in support of charity in May.
Conor and the team at NWRC are currently recruiting for the next Prince’s Trust Training programme aimed at building confidence and motivation in young people.
The programme is free and allows participants to gain increased confidence, motivation and employability skills.
During the twelve weeks, participants will be involved in a challenging programme that is delivered in a fun and interactive way. It will also be an opportunity for them to work towards a nationally recognised qualification.The course is open to young people in Derry/Londonderry, Strabane and Limavady.
For more information on the project please contact sean.curran@nwrc.ac.uk (07794215217) or conor.hassan@nwrc.ac.uk (07834304266).
The course is a partnership between NWRC, the Prince’s Trust and the European Social Fund.
Conor's story recently featured in the County Derry Post:
A young man from Limavady is currently raising funds in preparation for his first marathon which he has decided to run in support of not one, but two selected charities.
23-year-old, Conor Hasson, will be running the Belfast Marathon (26.2 miles) for the very first time on Monday, May 7, in support of Mencap which is the event’s chosen charity and Children in Crossfire, a charity which Conor took on himself.
“Each year the marathon chooses a charity to run for,” said Conor, “this year it’s Mencap which works with people who have learning disabilities.”
He continued: “I have never individually chosen a charity to raise money for before but my father suggested Children in Crossfire. This is a charity which supports children in poverty and he suggested this as he would donate to them from time to time. I haven’t a direct link to either of them but it was more about choosing a charity that isn’t picked by everyone.”
A player for both Roe Valley Football Club and Limavady Cross Community Snooker Club, the keen sportsman decided he wanted to take on a new challenge this year.
Conor said: “I thought about doing a marathon for a while and decided to sign up in October 2017 to commit to it. Overall, I wanted to do it as a different challenge than football because it’s not something everyone has done.”
He continued: “I always do a bit of extra training during football season and also off-season. I would take part in the Limavady Park Run when the football season is over and I also took part in the ‘Round the Bridges’ 10 mile which is the most I have ever ran before beginning the marathon training in January 2018. I found it challenging but felt great after it.”
As well as taking part in sport, the Limavady man is also an Assistant Team Leader at North West Regional College, helping young people re-engage in education, training and/or employment through a 12-week personal development programme.
Regarding the marathon, according to the former Limavady Grammar pupil, any target is a bonus when raising funds.
“I haven’t done this before but the events fundraiser at Children in Crossfire, Eileen Warren, suggested a target of £100 and she has been brilliant in helping me out with everything including the JustGiving page and sponsor sheets,” said Conor. “I have used this figure online, but any donation at all is a bonus to the charities.”
(Reproduced with kind permission of the County Derry Post)
