To celebrate the most colourful month of the year and encourage people to stay active, Irish Life is launching the MyLife PRIDE Challenge. Formerly known as the Step it to Stonewall Challenge, the campaign aims to raise vital funds for Irish LGBTQ+ charities Belong To, ShoutOut, LGBT Ireland and yours truly, GCN.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride demonstration, which took place in June 1974 when a small group of activists marched from the Department of Justice on Stephen’s Green to the British Embassy on Merrion Road calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland.

To mark this milestone anniversary, Irish Life is launching the MyLife PRIDE Challenge from June 18 to July 1. Over the two weeks, all participants are challenged to track 150,000 steps, which is just a little over 10,000 steps a day.

Those who manage to hit the goal will automatically be entered into Irish Life’s prize draw for a chance to win one of three Ticketmaster vouchers worth €250.

And that’s not all: if 50% of participants hit 150,000 steps by the end of July 1, Irish Life will donate €10,000 split between the Irish charities Belong To, ShoutOut, LGBT Ireland and GCN, for a total of €2,500 to each organisation.

If you wish to take part in the MyLife PRIDE Challenge, all you have to do is download the MyLife app, available on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Once you have the app, just look up the MyLife PRIDE Challenge 2024 to register.

You can run, walk or jog in order to meet your steps. Remember that only steps tracked from when you have joined the challenge on the MyLife app will count on the challenge leader board. Steps that have been recorded before you joined the challenge cannot be added later.