32 Counties in 32 Days

The past year has been tough for everyone, but especially for charities that have had to cease their regular fundraising leaving them with a huge deficit this year. For the foreseeable future, there will be no on-street fundraising, no bag packing, no marathons, and no coffee mornings, all of which contribute to the running of the charity and those who benefit from it. At Hoban Hotel Kilkenny, we wanted to do our part and help to raise money for two amazing charities that are close to our hearts, so we have decided to organise a sponsored walk around the entire coast of Ireland (virtually)! You can support us by sending a contribution, big or small, via our iDonate page – http://www.idonate.ie/32counties32days.

Our Virtual Walk Around Ireland

Starting on Valentine’s Day, 20 of our fittest, finest staff will start walking. Over the following 32 days, we are encouraging each of the participants to walk 5km every day. This will continue until St. Patricks Day totalling an amazing 3000kms walked between us, which is more or less the circumference of the entire island of Ireland! All walks will take place within a 5k radius of our participant’s homes to comply with restrictions. We are raising money for two charities while we walk with a joint iDonate page set up to make it easy for you to donate. Our participants can track their steps daily using a smartphone or fitness tracker, send in screenshots of their progress during the month and all of their steps will count toward our final tally. All proceeds from our iDonate fundraiser will be split between the Irish Wheelchair Association and Family Carers Ireland.

Irish Wheelchair Association

Irish Wheelchair Association is Ireland’s leading representative organisation for people with physical disabilities. Their services support people with physical disabilities to live independently and their campaigns demand equal rights and opportunities for people with physical abilities. They assist those living with physicals disabilities in all sorts of ways from community centres and assisted living to disabled parking permits. They are advocates of ‘sports for all’ and the IWA have many sports teams at different levels of skill and ability. Any funds received by the IWA will go toward bettering the lives of those with physical impairments leading to wheelchair use, a very worthy cause. At Hoban Hotel Kilkenny, we are committed to bettering our services and making the hotel accessible for all. That is why we have paired with Mobility Mojo, an organisation dedicated to auditing hotels across Ireland so they can meet certain standards, making them accessible to all visitors. At Hoban Hotel Kilkenny we believe each of our guests should be entirely comfortable throughout their stay from the moment they enter the car park until they wave us goodbye. Mobility Mojo have rated all our facilities for all round accessibility from wheelchair users to visually impaired people. We have been awarded a Gold standard rating (87%) which means we offer superb levels of accessibility. We also have a number of accessible rooms available to let, simply choose the ‘accessible room’ option when making your booking.

Family Carers Ireland

Family Carers Ireland is the national charity supporting the 500,000 family carers across the country who care for loved ones such as children or adults with physical or intellectual disabilities, frail older people, those with palliative care needs or those living with chronic illnesses, mental ill-health or addiction. Our vision is an Ireland in which family carers are properly recognised, supported and empowered as we believe that no one should have to care alone. Visit www.familycarers.ie to access a range of supports and services or you can Freephone our Careline on

1800 24 07 24.

How can you get involved?

The best way to get involved is to donate to our iDonate page by clicking here: Every little helps and 100% of your donation will do directly to the charity. We gratefully accept all donations and will split the funds between these two very valuable charities. If you cannot donate, you can support us by liking and sharing anything you see about our walk on social media. Word of mouth is invaluable and the more people who are supporting us the better. We would love to see you taking part in our virtual walk around Ireland too! All are welcome to join us on this journey and we would love to see your photos on social media using the hashtag #32counties32Days. You can encourage your family and friends to donate using our iDonate link and add to our grand total. Remember Hoban Hotel Kilkenny is open for essential workers and travellers throughout the lockdown. If you have a valid reason to travel, we would be delighted to provide affordable, comfortable, and safe accommodation on the edge of Kilkenny City. We are looking forward to welcoming back our leisure guests as soon as it is safe to do so.