Eglinton clergymen raise over £5,000

Three Clergymen from Eglinton, who staged a pre-Christmas ‘Container Sit-out’ have raised more than £5,000 for two refugee charities.
Trócaire's North West Regional Officer, Roisin O'Hara, with Rev Paul HoeyTrócaire's North West Regional Officer, Roisin O'Hara, with Rev Paul Hoey
Trócaire's North West Regional Officer, Roisin O'Hara, with Rev Paul Hoey

Faughanvale Rector Rev Paul Hoey, Eglinton Presbyterian Minister Rev Lindsay Blair and Faughanvale priest Fr Noel McDermott, took it in turns to ‘camp out’ for a weekend in a container, outside the village credit union, to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees.

Parishioners and passers-by, who visited the trio, were invited to contribute to Tear Fund and Trócaire, two of the charities helping refugees on the ground in Syria and in neighbouring countries. This week, the proceeds - £5,600 – were shared equally between the two charities.

The ‘Eglinton Refugee Container Sit-out’ coincided with one of the coldest spells of the winter so far, with hailstones falling in the first half hour. Rev Hoey says they got the idea after hearing a news report about a refugee family who had been forced to live in a container in Easter Europe.