This is Mandy. She is 47, she has Downs Syndrome, and she is a legend.

Mandy came home to live with her family for the duration of the pandemic. And she decided - all by herself - to change a few things. She started walking, a little at a time at first, and then more and more, measuring her progress on her trusty fitbit.

And she decided to lose weight. In thirty weeks she has lost 47 pounds, by walking thousands of steps a day and by following the Slimming World plan. It's an incredible achievement.

Mandy is John Cena's biggest fan - that's him on her teeshirt - and we think he'd be very proud of her. 

And she's not finished yet. She had done a million steps and more for herself. And she is determined, between now and Christmas, to walk a million steps for Lakers.

Lakers is a club, that serves the needs of 400 members just like Mandy. You can find out all about them on Lakers.ie.

Two years ago, Lakers had a terrible fire in Bray. But the club has been rebuilt in a wonderful new premises, and all its fun, social, learning and friendship activities carried on almost without interruption. 

When the pandemic started, the club put a lot of its activities online, and all its members got very good at Zoom!

But Lakers depends heavily on fundraising, and none of that is possible now. We really need as much help as possible, and Mandy is determined to make her contribution. 

From the moment she starts, we'll post a "fitbit" update here every week, so you can follow her progress. 

Please get involved. And please, if you can, share this page on all your own social media outlets.

Thank you very much for your support.

Mandy (and her family!)