Running for Fermanagh Brightstarz - Erne Endurance

Do you want to join Team Erne Endurance Runners in making a difference? We are raising money in aid of FERMANAGH BRIGHTSTARZ and every donation will help this brilliant charity. Thank you in advance for your contribution. Team Erne Endurance are running 10K every 4 hours for 48 hours, yes you read that right 10K EVERY 4 HOURS FOR 48 HOURS. Our first 10K will start @ 4pm on Friday 18th August from Fermanagh Lakeland Forum and we will run 10K EVERY 4 HOURS FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS running right through until Sunday 20th August. WHY? Because we are blown away by FERMANAGH BRIGHTSTARZ cast and members, we love the work they put in all year and their hard work pays off when they take to the stage in the Ardhowen Theatre for their wonderful performances. Your donation will literally help' keep the show on the road' as Fermanagh Brightstarz is a voluntary organisation and relies totally on fundraising.

Team Erne Endurance - We are a team of runners, a mixture of men and women across the community who like everyone else nowadays have busy lives and families but we have taken time out to train hard for this endurance run which will see us run 10k every 4 hours for 48 hours. We will run around the wonderful island town of Enniskillen, and the BrightStarz members (checkout their facebook page) will be running with us or cheering us on for part of the journey. If you are a runner, a charity worker, a family member with a person with a disability, an arts worker you will understand what we are saying here. Our runners will dig deep in the wee small hours as we run in the dark and light around our wee island town so please dig deep and support us and the Fermanagh BrightStarz. Thank you

About the Charity: FERMANAGH BRIGHTSTARZ is a community arts and theatre group for adults with disabilities or as we prefer to say 'THISABILITY' because everyone of us has different abilities. Our aim is to encourage and help our members achieve their goals and aspirations of performing live, onstage in a full, professional theatrical production. Our members meet weekly and work with an artistic directorate team to develop their theatrical skills in dance, drama and music. The show we produce is performed in the Ardhowen Theatre every June and we work all year to produce the show. Our members develop their skills and confidence with the vocal workshops and they love the dance choreography and our talented vocalists have a musical coach. The most important thing is that Tuesday nights is just about meeting up with friends and having fun! Our Tuesday nights work as we have the help of volunteers so that our members enjoy a wonderful evening where they can express themselves, dance, act, sing and have fun, this also gives their parents two hours of respite whilst members enjoy a much-needed social outlet.

The BrightStarz story is that Fermanagh BrightStarz was established 2015 and is a registered charity with NI Charity Commission. It came from a need in the Fermanagh community for an outlet for adults with disabilities to have the same social connections and activities as any other individual in the community. Our Starz have the same need to socialise and connect as any other human being. They wanted to see people who looked like them performing in our local theatre. Our Starz are a close community of adults with ‘this ability’ not focussed on their disability and who wanted:

• A place to meet, an opportunity to come together outside of daycare services

• A chance to develop their skills in acting, dancing, singing, comedy

• A chance to perform on stage

• A bit of fun on a Tuesday night

• A chance to grow in confidence

As a charity, we receive no grants and we exist via fundraising and donations. The donations we receive pay for our artistic directors to coach and develop our cast, our rehearsal space and our theatre hire and costumes. We could not exist without the strong network of dedicated volunteers who are with us year in and year out. We are a weekly service and we run for 42 weeks of the year. We produce a full professional show in the Ardhowen Theatre for 2 nights each year. If you would like to see more please check out our YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Your Donation: The donation you make means that Fermanagh BrightStarz will continue and it will:

• make important social connections for our members

• give them the freedom to express and be the wonderful people they are

• build their confidence, friendship, courage and strength

• present our members in all their glory on artistic platforms

• changes people’s perspectives around disability and focus on ‘this ability!’

• deliver a more inclusive society and community

and most importantly of all bring some more joy into this world, for we could all do with a bit more joy and BrightStarz absolutely bring that joy!