Determined Pawel is cycling from Longford to Poland for charity 

A Polish man living in Longford, is planning an incredible bicycle trip from Ireland to Poland, starting on April 28 and covering 3,300 km. 

Paweł Kasztelaniec is undertaking the arduous trek through twelve countries, starting in Ireland through Spain, France, Italy, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and ending in Poland, as a fundraiser in support of an elderly disabled lady who takes care of her adult daughter, who is also disabled.  

37-year-old Pawel, who came to Ireland in 2006 and lived in Carrick on Shannon until the beginning of 2023, has two children, a daughter named Jadzia (9) and a son named Oscar (11). 

He ran his own shoe making workshop in Carrick called ‘Pawel's Shoe Repairs’ from 2008 until when he started working at Technimark in Longford as a maintenance technician. He has been living in Longford since 2023 and recently joined the Longford Cycling and Racing Club. 

Pawel explained, “I have been riding a bike since 2016 and since then I have had a dream of riding it to Poland, where I come from.”

In Poland, he lived in the town of Otmuchów but he is going to the town of Rybnik because the ladies for whom he is collecting money live there and many people from his family live there.  

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The ladies that Pawel is undertaking the charity cycle for are Maria Groborz (67) and her daughter Helena (37). He said Helena was diagnosed in 1990 as a child with cerebral palsy after meningitis and speech problems, and her mother also suffers with a disability - urological. 

He added, “Both are on social pensions. They don't have enough money for everyday life, not to mention repairing the roof of the house. I don't know these ladies personally and it is my aunt Ela Piotrowska, who has been an activist for disabled people for years, who knows them. Both ladies live in Poland in the city of Rybnik and this is my destination and my goal is to assist them.”

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The trip is scheduled to start from Pig Market Lane, Longford on April 28 and Pawel is planning to cover 3,300km in twenty-five days. “I don't know the exact time of start yet, I will be accompanied by members of  Longford Cycling and Racing Club.”  

The following is a link to the charity collection created by his aunt on behalf of the ladies:

https://pomagam.pl/fa6htc?fbclid=IwAR1sj_-YZAwXqSPQoZTWZtK3-spZljsIXHa38U_Z7wkVBZAkKVQ-PKDyWS0

There is also a gofundme page entitled Repairing the roof for two disabled womens

Pawel expressed thanks to Karolina Dennis, Karol Zawadzki, Barbara Stachowska (Midlands Polish Community) and to Michael Devlin (Longford Cycling and Racing Club) for their support and encouragement. 

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