We are very excited to welcome Elaine Wyllie MBE, founder of The Daily Mile in a school in Scotland 10 years ago, to Ireland!!!  We are looking forward to celebrating Elaine’s visit and we have a number of events planned to showcase The Daily Mile.

A Fond Memory of Tom Cavanagh

 By Frank Greally- Athletics Ireland- The Daily Mile

News of the passing of Tom Cavanagh from Fermoy – on the day when Athletics Ireland launched the annual Remembrance Run 5K, prompted a fond memory of a morning four years ago when I sat with Tom in his home drinking tea and talking about athletics – a sport he was passionate about.

I was visiting Tom to chat about The Daily Mile, which Athletics Ireland had just started to promote to Primary Schools all over Ireland and I was hoping that he would see this initiative worthy of support from Tomar Trust, the philanthropic trust set up by Tom to contribute to strengthening Irish society.

It turned out that we had a mutual friend in the late Fanahan McSweeney, the Olympic 400m athlete whose book Living and Loving With Cancer I had published. Tom and I shared some fond memories of Fanahan that morning and we also talked a lot about athletics and the potential for The Daily Mile.

Tom Cavanagh had a big heart and he was a man of great generosity and kindness.. The Mission Statement of Tomar Trust tells us a lot about Tom and the legacy that Tomar Trust continues to deliver. I will quote some lines here from the Trust’s Mission Statement:

Our intent is to invest in people, ideas and effective organisations who, through their work, serve to strengthen society.

The big issues that will fundamentally affect our society and shape our future are the effects of climate on how we live and the international and national response to the refugee humanitarian crisis and the impact of that on society.

None of these issues are too big to make a difference . All can be brought back to the local and all have implications for the people of Munster, Ireland and the wider world. The solution and responses will be local.

The quality of our response to these issues will be shaped by the quality of our debate, the strength of our communities, our sense of identity and our empathy. These in turn will be shaped by the quality of our media, our education, and the levels of inequality and inclusiveness in society.

From 2017- 2026, we will encourage:

The development of a sustainable, resilient society, supporting community initiatives that address local sustainability and build social capital.

The development of a socially cohesive society, supporting the integration of refugees and ethnic minorities.

Investment in our children, That they get the best start in life, and grow up healthy , connected to community and contributing to society.

That was the vision of a truly unique Cork man who was willing to share his wealth for the betterment of society. Tom Cavanagh has left a lasting legacy and his generosity in supporting Athletics Ireland with The Daily Mile initiative has already resulted in well over one thousand Primary Schools all over Ireland adopting The Daily Mile – 15 minutes of Walking or Running – to be part of the school day. 

We will remember Tom Cavanagh in a special way at the Remembrance Run 5K in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, November 13th. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

A lovely video below from our trip to Kerry back in April to celebrate the global 10th birthday of The Daily Mile.

We had the pleasure of visiting Flemby National School and Nagle Rice National School near Tralee where we received a huge welcome. We were delighted to have the Minister for Education Norma Foley and Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Sport Jack Chambers present. The children and teachers in both schools are great supporters of The Daily Mile and do fantastic work implementing it. Many thanks to all involved!!!

The Daily Mile Team would like to wish all the children, teachers, staff and parents the very best on the start of the new school year. It is always an exciting time for children as they return to their friends, teachers, activities and lessons!! We are looking forward to seeing The Daily Mile back in action and to a fun-filled year ahead.

We would encourage all schools to participate in The Daily Mile, that is 15 minutes every day, walking or running. We guarantee that the teachers will enjoy it just as much as the children do!! A note below from Frank Greally, The Daily Mile Ambassador, welcoming all the children back to school.