Man swaps sex drive for fundraising drive for year

Some people vow to exercise more, others to eat fewer sweets, but Peter Lynagh decided to enter virgin territory with his New Year’s resolution 12 months ago.

The Irishman, who lives in Melbourne, had, as he admitted, become “completely shallow” and that had manifested itself by him getting “lots of sex”.

Just before 2013 began, the boxing coach and DJ decided to make a change — so he decided to become celibate for a year.

What started as a joke between himself and his best friend Marty soon became something much greater than that.

Fast forward 12 months and he managed to not only maintain his abstinence from sex, but has also so far raised $50,000 (€33,000) for Free to Shine, a charity that rescues Cambodian children from sex slavery.

Through his Facebook page, “Pete’s Chastity for Charity,” he charted the highs and lows of his year. One of his highs was travelling to Cambodia to see the children that his actions had helped.

According to Australia’s The Age, the money he raised has been used to set up an office and employ staff, allowing the charity to double the number of girls it has saved from the sex slave trade from 70 to almost 140.

“I had to finally face the demons of my past, which was the hardest yet best thing I done this year,” said Mr Lynagh in a posting on Facebook when the year came to an end. “Due to different childhood and young adult events that happened in my life, I didn’t really like myself much, hence all the sleeping around getting that external validation to feel likeable by women... the biggest thing I learned this year would be actually how to step back from myself and observing my automatic behaviour but not buying into it.”

And what happened on his first night after the year was finally over?

“Contrary to my original plan that I set at the start of last year: waking up in the Playboy mansion high ‘5’ing Hugh Heffner and a dozen of his play bunnies... what really happened wasn’t eventful at all. After a low-key dinner with the lads, I was in bed sleeping for 10.30pm, alone and sober as a judge. Wow, how times have changed!!”

And he is not finished with his charitable drive.

Next year he will work with The Big Umbrella charity “teaching kids about young entrepreneurship, social justice, fundraising, leadership, and life skills”!!