Last Wednesday marked the launch of the 2025 Kirby Way Cycle, which will take to the roads around Portlaoise, Co Laois, on Friday, the 22nd of August.

This is the fourth year of the event which is set to benefit a record number of organisations, including the The Jack and Jill Foundation, ISPCC, The Irish Kidney Association, MS Ireland, Warriors for Humanity, Hand in Hand, East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support, Jigsaw, the National Breast Cancer Research Institute, Milford Care Centre, and Chime.

Kirby is also supporting a number of charities in other countries where it has a presence, including The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, Els for Autism (South Africa), Rainbow of Hope (Wales), Matakuten (Sweden), AIRC (Italy), Diabetes UK, and Young Ealing Foundation (UK).

Hundreds of people will take part in the Kirby Way 2025, and people can choose one of three options: a 50km cycle, a 100km cycle, or a 10km run, with all courses starting and finishing at Kirby’s off-site manufacturing facility outside Portlaoise town.

Associate Director at Kirby, Brian Burke, is heading up the organising team: “This event has been going from strength to strength every year and has quickly become a real highlight in our company calendar.

It’s a fantastic way for us to support deserving organisations here and abroad, while enjoying a great day out with our colleagues, friends and family who come along to cheer us on.

We’re delighted to announce we’re keeping the running option as part of the programme, after it proved really popular last year and opened up the event to even more people to raise funds for deserving causes. I’d like to thank our fantastic Galway camogie stars who joined us for the launch – Áine Keane, Aoife Donohue and Ally Hesnan – their amazing achievements will be a real inspiration for us when we’re out on the road. I’d also like to thank Mikey Ryan, who established the Kirby Way Cycle back in 2022 and is still playing a central role in the planning. I’m really looking forward to the big day in August and will be encouraging as many of our colleagues as possible to take part”.

To donate, visit: https://www.idonate.ie/event/TheKirbyWayCycle2025