Shane Lowry can’t think of a better charity to be involved with after The Open Champion was revealed as the new official Ambassador for Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
Lowry, whose wife Wendy worked as a nurse at the Hospital, donated a massive €125,000 to the Hospital last year after taking part in a JP McManus hosted opening of The Golf Course at Adare Manor.
“I’ve never really been involved with a charity but I was very fortunate to receive a nice sum of money last year from the opening of Adare Manor – JP McManus donated money as a prize to a charity of your choice and the only one I could think of, that I really felt close enough to, was Temple Street.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve just had a child myself and my wife, Wendy used to work there. Wendy ran the marathon last year and donated over 20,000 to the Hospital as well so we have a special connection to the place.”
Great to visit @Temple_Street today and delighted that myself and @wendyirishonner have come on board as new ambassadors. Looking forward to working with the people at temple street and hopefully we can raise some money and create awareness for a great cause. pic.twitter.com/qpTB4s9F2E
— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) December 16, 2019
It’s not that the Clara golfer has suddenly felt the need to give back given his success of 2019. Rather, it’s that the two-time winner on the season believes his exploits on the fairways have afforded him more opportunity to make a difference off it.
“I guess I have the profile now to make a bit of a difference,” Lowry admitted.
“We’re going to have some fundraisers over the next number of years and I never felt I had the profile to ever do enough before now to make a difference. I don’t feel like I have to put my profile to use – it’s just definitely worthwhile – so if I can bring in a few quid or raise a bit of awareness, every little helps.”
The real joy for the Offaly man can be found in the faces of the children most in need, with Lowry relishing the opportunities he’s had to visit the Hospital with the Claret Jug – not that everyone recognises the famous piece of silver.
“A lot of the kids wouldn’t know [what the Claret Jug is] but certain kids are into their golf and you go in there – some of the wards are really good and really upbeat and you go into others and there’s some really sick kids and… it’s just an incredible place.
“The staff are incredible people. The one thing we took away from being there is the lack of staff that they have – that’s their biggest problem, not fundraising, but staff levels, because everyone who’s there is incredible. It means a lot to me, it means so much to Wendy and we’re both just delighted to be able to get involved with something so important to us, together.”
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