Charlie Bird to lead second charity walk, this time in aid of Samaritans

He did Walk with Charlie last year.

Broadcasting legend Charlie Bird has revealed his plans to do another charity walk but this time around, it's in aid of Samaritans. The RTÉ journalist walked to the top of Croagh Patrick last April and raised €3m for charity with Climb With Charlie. Now, Charlie has told his followers on social media that he plans to do another walk in hopes of raising much needed funds for the mental health charity. He wrote: "Next Sunday myself, Claire and Tiger [his beloved dog] are leading a walk in Avoca, in County Wicklow to raise awareness for the Samaritans and they are having many walks around the country. Let’s keep extending the hand of friendship. Love you." https://twitter.com/charliebird49/status/1645360850172084224?s=20 The Charlie Bird Hand of Friendship Walk with Samaritans is being supported by Coillte and the public can join in the 5km and 1km walks in Avondale and other Coillte sites in Ireland on Sunday, April 16. Many of the Coillte trails are buggy and wheelchair friendly, allowing them to be accessible to all and donations on the day will go straight to Samaritans branches around the country. The RTE journalist was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2021 after he found that he was having issues with his voice and has since been giving health updates regularly on social media. https://twitter.com/charliebird49/status/1640694675114717185?s=20

Mobility "Hell"

Sharing the update on Twitter recently, Charlie said he will likely be able to maintain some of his mobility in the future. He wrote: "I want to thank everyone who have been praying for me, I got a bit of good news the other day I have been told I may not end up totally immobile. "Thank you all for your prayers. My heart goes out to all the MND patients who end up totally immobile." Last year, Charlie spoke with Her.ie about his new speak technology which allows him to communicate with others despite his speech deteriorating. "What we've been doing, if somebody has been diagnosed with Parkinsons, or MND or maybe had an accident, record your voice now and then when it goes down, you have it. But the technology can be good for everyone," Charlie said. "Nothing is going to change, unfortunately, every day somebody is diagnosed MND and it is one of the most dreadful things. You should see me now, every time I sit to eat, believe you and me, it's hell."