A Co. Armagh fundraising group has surpassed £1 million in total raised for the Southern Area Hospice!
Friends of Southern Area Hospice was set up by Deirdre Breen and Ann Dalzell 24 years ago, and since then Deirdre and Ann have worked tirelessly in fundraising for the vital hospice services.
The committee have organised and supported a huge range of events, including coffee mornings, fun runs and concerts.
Deirdre, the winner of the Armagh I Fundraiser of the Year award in 2023, said she was “over the moon” when she heard the news.
“I’m delighted,” she told Armagh I minutes after reaching the total.
“I burst out crying, I’m so emotional. Next year is our 25th year and my target was to get the million by then, so I just can’t believe the amount of money that has come in the last two weeks.
“Last Monday, we needed £13,000, which I still thought was brilliant, but I can’t believe the money we’ve got in a week and a half.
“I’m just over the moon. I can’t believe it, I’m on a real high!”
For Deirdre and the committee, the fundraising never stops and they have worked tirelessly to reach the £1 million mark.
Said Deirdre: “We’ve a real good committee and we do lots of events. The two big events are the Lurgan Park fun run – which is organised by Tony McKeown and David Wilson and we go along to help – and the Aghagallon Santa fun run, organised by Barry Shanks and Kevin McAlinden. It actually pushed us to the million!
“We will also be organising the 25th anniversary concert on May 9 in the Ashburn Hotel.
“Last Sunday was the Aghagallon Santa fun run and there were 470 runners and we raised around £8,700. The coffee mornings also bring a lot of money as we do a sale at it as well.
“I never go around any shops for prizes. I put on Facebook if anybody has unwanted gifts to drop down and then we make hampers.”
What’s next for Deirdre you may ask? Well she’s gearing up to raise the next million!
The friends of Southern Area Hospice Lurgan Support Group
She explained: “Pure Gym in Craigavon are opening a new gym on December 19 and they’ve asked me to come and do the official opening. Then Clan na Gael has a fundraising evening on December 20.
“Then I’m taking a month off and on January 26 we’re having a coffee morning in St Peter’s Hall. We will run lots of other events as well and March 9 is the Lurgan Park fun run which always gets a good bit of money.”
Deirdre also took the opportunity to thank all who helped the group raise this amazing total.
“It’s only for the people that support us in organising events, as we couldn’t have done it without them. People are so kind.”
Speaking to the public, she said: “Thank you so much because we couldn’t have done it without the people. It’s the people that support this. We might run the events but it’s the support we get.
“I was up the town yesterday and somebody came over and gave me £10. Then I went into the Post Office and somebody handed me £50!
She continued: “There’s very few families that haven’t been affected by cancer. Everybody knows someone so I think that’s why it touches everybody and everybody will give to the Hospice.
“We were aiming to reach it next year so I just can’t believe the amount of money. I didn’t think there was a lot of money about but thank goodness people have given.
To close, Deirdre added: “I just want to say thanks to all the staff, the medical staff and the volunteers in the Hospice and all the admin staff in the fundraising office, because they are all doing a fantastic job!”
Most read today
Operator’s Licence Notice
