Presentation of the 2024 Telethon in Haute-Vienne: the choice of sponsor, a “cry from the heart of the volunteers”

Who will be the local sponsor of the Telethon in Haute-Vienne, while at the national level the singer Mika will have this privilege? Which municipality was selected to succeed Feytiat as the department's Telethon Village?

On November 14, at the press club, the AFM-Téléthon 87 coordination revealed the outlines of the event, two weeks before the kickoff

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1/. Not one godfather, but two godfathers…

His name was obvious, like “a cry from the heart of the volunteers,” explains Marcel Ribière, the coordinator. It was the judo champion, bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Cyril Jonard, who was acclaimed on the ground.

To succeed Sophie Roulaud, godmother in 2023, he will not be alone, because the association has chosen to involve Jason Guillot, his coach, guide and training partner. “Without him, Cyril would not have been able to do what he accomplished. It’s a strength between them, so they will be sponsors together,” continues Marcel Ribière.

An honor, said the one who suffers from Usher syndrome, a degenerative genetic disease which causes hearing and vision loss.

2/. A municipality that has been hyper-involved for fifteen years

(coordinator of the Telethon in Haute-Vienne)

Elected officials, traders, associations and volunteers have been involved for fifteen years. Initially, there was only one event, but over time, the event grew in size. The launch will be given on Friday November 29, at 7 p.m., and the activities will last three days, until Sunday: lotto, sauerkraut evening, magic show and music hall, belote competition…

A cardboard brick wall will also be built as part of the theme of this 38th edition: “All builders”. “It is both the idea that we are tearing down walls to fight the disease and that we are building others to advance research,” explains the coordination.

3/. Half of the municipalities mobilized

Beyond Neuvic-Entier, some 90 Haute-Viennese municipalities are organizing events for the benefit of the Telethon, all weekend: “that’s almost half. The commitment is strong here, whereas elsewhere, it is more like one in three municipalities.”

Some 300 actions are already planned. To locate them, coordination refers to the Limougeotte smartphone application, “We help each other” section, but also to its social networks on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

Note among the activities, the bike ride organized by the departmental cycling team of the Haute-Vienne firefighters and the Team U-LH club. On Saturday, November 30, the cyclists will leave Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche to reach, around 12:30 p.m., Neuvic-Entier at the end of a 100-kilometer route, with stages in Nexon, Limoges, Saint-Léonard …

The objective? Do as well as in 2023 where the activities made it possible to collect more than €245,000 out of the €571,000 that the people of Haut-Vienne generously donated to the Telethon.