Rory Best Completes Final Walking Challenge as Trilogy Raises €4.2m for Children with Cancer
Former Ireland and Ulster Rugby captain Rory Best crossed the finish line in Cong, Co. Mayo, on Sunday, September 20, completing the third and final chapter of his Miles to Mayo fundraising series and bringing the cumulative total raised for the Cancer Fund for Children to an extraordinary €4.2 million over five years.
Background
Rory Best, who captained Ireland to a Grand Slam in 2018 and retired from professional rugby in 2019, has channelled his post-playing energy into a series of gruelling fundraising challenges for the Cancer Fund for Children, a Belfast-based charity that provides emotional, social, and therapeutic support to young people aged 0 to 24 who are living with cancer. The charity's flagship facility, Daisy Lodge in Newcastle, Co. Down, has offered therapeutic short breaks to thousands of families since its opening, and the ambition to build a second such centre on the shores of Lough Corrib in Cong, Co. Mayo, has been the driving force behind Best's trilogy of challenges.
The first Miles to Mayo walk, in 2021, covered 180 miles from Newcastle to Cong and raised over €1 million. The second, in 2023, stretched to 220 miles from the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and raised €1.5 million, marking the groundbreaking of the new Daisy Lodge. A separate 2025 challenge, in which a team of business leaders climbed the highest peak in every county across Ireland, raised a further €1.8 million. The 2026 trilogy finale has now added approximately €1.7 million to that total.
The Cancer Fund for Children was founded in 1989 and has grown into one of Northern Ireland's most respected charities, supporting families across the island of Ireland. Its services extend beyond residential breaks to include in-home support, hospital outreach, and therapeutic programmes designed to address the psychological and social impact of a cancer diagnosis on children and their families.
Key Developments
The 2026 challenge, titled Rory's Miles to Mayo — The Trilogy, ran from September 12 to September 20, covering more than 235 miles across the island of Ireland. Best led a team of 21 business leaders, each of whom committed to raising a minimum of £50,000 individually. The route passed through Derry/Londonderry, Belfast, Dublin, Kildare, Carlow, Cork, Limerick, and Galway before concluding at the site of the new Daisy Lodge in Cong. Participants walked approximately 50,000 steps daily, the equivalent of nine consecutive marathons.
At the finish line, a commemorative stone monument and plaque were unveiled on the grounds of the Cong facility to honour Best's leadership across all three challenges. Speaking at the ceremony, Best described the moment as "the most emotional finish of the three," adding that the sight of the new building taking shape made every blister worthwhile. The new Daisy Lodge is scheduled to open in spring 2027 and will serve families from Connacht and beyond who currently face long journeys to access the Newcastle facility.
Headline sponsor Arachas, which has supported all three iterations of the Miles to Mayo series, was joined by dozens of corporate partners and thousands of individual donors who contributed online throughout the nine-day walk. The Cancer Fund for Children confirmed that the 2026 challenge alone raised approximately €1.7 million, bringing the trilogy total to €4.2 million.
Why It Matters
The scale of what Best has achieved across five years of fundraising is difficult to overstate. The Cancer Fund for Children operates in a space where statutory funding is chronically insufficient; the charity relies on voluntary income to deliver services that the health system simply does not provide. A cancer diagnosis in a family does not only affect the child — it reshapes the lives of parents, siblings, and grandparents, often for years. Daisy Lodge exists precisely to address that wider family trauma, offering respite and therapeutic support in a residential setting that no hospital ward can replicate.
The decision to build a second Daisy Lodge in the west of Ireland reflects a recognition that geography has long been a barrier to access. Families in Connacht, Munster, and the west of Ulster have historically faced a four-to-five-hour round trip to Newcastle. The Cong facility will dramatically reduce that burden. Best's fundraising has not merely supplemented the charity's income — it has made a second centre financially viable. That is a legacy that will outlast any rugby trophy.
It is also worth noting that Best has done this as a private citizen, without the promotional machinery of a professional sports career behind him. The business leaders who joined him on the walk were motivated by his example. In an era when celebrity philanthropy is often performative, the Miles to Mayo series has been defined by physical commitment and genuine community engagement.
Local Impact
For families in the west of Ireland, the opening of the Cong Daisy Lodge in 2027 will represent a transformative change in access to specialist support. The facility, set on the shores of Lough Corrib in one of Connacht's most scenic locations, will offer the same therapeutic short-break model as the Newcastle centre — residential stays for children with cancer and their families, combining outdoor activities, creative therapies, and professional psychological support. Families from Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, and Leitrim will be among the primary beneficiaries. In Northern Ireland, the Cancer Fund for Children's existing services in Belfast and across the six counties will also benefit from the increased fundraising profile generated by the trilogy.
What's Next
The Cancer Fund for Children expects the new Daisy Lodge in Cong to open its doors to families in spring 2027. Construction is well advanced, and the charity has confirmed that the funds raised through the trilogy will be used to equip and furnish the facility. Best has indicated that while the trilogy is complete, he remains committed to the charity's work and has not ruled out future involvement in fundraising events. The charity will continue its Emigrant Support Programme funding applications and is exploring additional corporate partnerships to sustain the new centre's running costs beyond its opening year.
