Novel fundraiser in tattoo shop raises €3k for Athlone Boxing Club
An unusual fundraiser in which people were invited to get 'flash' tattoos, with the proceeds going to Athlone Boxing Club, proved a huge success recently by raising more than €3,000.
At times there were queues out the door at the Inksane tattoo and body piercing shop, on Church Street, Athlone, during the fundraiser held on Sunday, February 12.
Throughout the day, four of Inksane's tattoo artists were providing the 'flash' tattoos, which are small tattoos chosen from a range of set designs.
Each flash tattoo cost €50, with the proceeds going to the boxing club, and the strong turnout on the day led to a total of €3,180 being raised.
Coach Rory Parkes, who runs Athlone Boxing Club with assistance from professional light heavyweight Joe Ward, said the money would be hugely beneficial in helping to provide new gear and equipment for the club.
"To raise that amount of money is absolutely phenomenal," said Rory. "Myself and Joe (Ward) were overwhelmed with the response to it. We run the club on a shoestring, so this is a great boost for us."
The club's gym is in the basement of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, but Rory said it was hoped that it would eventually move into a new premises.
"We have big plans for where we're going to bring the club in the future. We are going on a forward trajectory, and we're going to be looking for a new premises, so to get this kind of sponsorship and support from a local business is fantastic."
One of the tattoo artists at Inksane, Eric Kilmartin, said the idea for the fundraiser came about after Joe Ward had enquired about getting a gift voucher which the club could raffle to raise money.
"I said, 'you're not going to raise much money with a voucher, but I can go one better than that,'" said Eric.
"We advertised the event all week, we put the designs on social media of the tattoos we were doing, and we got a great response from it.
"We had queues going down the street of people coming into the shop. It was brilliant," stated Eric, whose son, Craig, is a member of the club.
Last weekend, Athlone Boxing Club was sending three of its young boxers, Oisín Donoghue, Joe Ward (Jr), and Willie Stokes to Enniscorthy for the opening bouts of the Leinster championships for boxers in the 11 to 13 age range.
In other Leinster championship bouts earlier this month, Tom Stokes (16) of Athlone Boxing Club won gold in the 80kg Youth Two category, while Christy Joyce won gold in the 63kg Youth One age category, which involves 15-year-old boxers.
Another Athlone boxer, Rian Hayden, in his first major tournament, won his quarter final and semi-final bouts in the 52kg Boy 4 category, but was narrowly defeated in the final against a more experienced opponent from the Marble City Boxing Club in Kilkenny.
"As an up and coming boxer, in only his third competitive fight, Rian did really well and we're very proud of him. He had to settle for silver in the end, but it was a very gallant display and he's one to watch for the future," said Rory Parkes.
Joe Ward, meanwhile, is preparing for his tenth professional fight, which will take place in Quebec, Canada, on March 16.
The local man's opponent will be Mario Andrade Rodriguez. Rodriguez has a perfect record to date, of seven wins in seven fights, but the bout against Ward will be his first contest outside of his native Mexico.