peter
1/3″I used to play hurling for Clare, and I really was living my dream, playing hurling for my county, but then I had to move to Canada for University, and coming back every 3-4 week for matches just didn’t work. Soon after I stopped playing my father died of cancer. I felt completely lost. Thoughts and questions about my family, my future and about life in general quickly started to fill up my head and it became extremely noisy. Hurling wasn’t there anymore to clear my mind. Filled with grief and all those thoughts, I got on a bicycle one day in Vancouver, cycled 7,000 km to Halifax in 51 days, and raised over a million euro for cancer research. That was the biggest achievement in my life up to that point without even realising it.
When I came back with a clear head, I was still without a job. I knew one thing; that I wanted to work with young people, I’ve always admired their energy. One day I bumped into a documentary about coaching kids to reach their dreams in a safe environment. After watching it I felt I found my destiny. I still had no clue how I’d make a living from it but I was already hooked with the idea. The hardest part about setting up Soar was to believe that this passion would be a job one day. That 7,000 km was in fact the evidence I needed to prove that I wasn’t just a dreamer, but I’m certainly able to manifest my ideas and turn them into reality. With this in mind, and the help of a colleague and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Soar was born; and now I’m living a new dream doing it.”
-This interview is part of a collaborative campaign between Humans of Dublin and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, speaking to social entrepreneurs across the country about what drives them and seeing the impact they are having in communities around Ireland. Find out more about how you can apply for funding and support for your idea or project and help change Ireland here: Social Entrepreneurs Ireland #ChangingIreland –