We have gathered together these heart-warming pictures to celebrate a special year of giving and to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who organised, supported and contributed to these charity fundraising events.
We know there must be many more, so if you or your organisation has been involved in fundraising and would like to be included in the next of these special online galleries, please email your photo with caption details to [email protected]
5. Oxygen Therapy Centre prize draw
The Oxygen Therapy Centre at Magheramorne, outside Larne, organised a fundraising Christmas hamper draw which raised the grand total of £834. Blanche Girvin from Larne was the winner. A spokesperson said: "This money will help greatly towards the running costs of the centre and enable us to continue the great work that we do providing oxygen therapy to those in the community suffering from long term neurological and physical conditions." Pictured are Vickie Shaw, Oxygen Therapy Centre; Blanche Girvin, the winner of the hamper and her daughter Rhonda Girvin and Linda Boyd, Oxygen Therapy Centre. Photo: contributed
6. Endurance challenge
Adrian Finlay of Springwell Running Club, which covers the Coleraine, Ballymoney, Garvagh and Limavady areas, presents Trevor Abernethy from the RNLI with a cheque for £1,600. Adrian took on a challenge of endurance as he completed the Extreme North Quadrathon Challenge in aid of Portrush RNLI. This consisted of taking on four half marathons over four days in Donegal. Photo: contributed
7. Seeing the need for charity donations
Specsavers Ballymena raised funds and donated presents to two local charitable initiatives in the run-up to Christmas.The team donated a trolley full of toys to the Bridge Park Dunelm store, as part of the retailer’s Delivering Joy campaign for Christmas. The toys, that were gifted to families, care homes and refuge centres in the local community, included board games, beauty gift sets and toys for children of all ages, ensuring everyone had a present to open come Christmas Day. Staff also got into the festive spirit by wearing Christmas jumpers during December weekends, with each member of staff giving a donation to a local organisation of their choice. Specsavers Ballymena Retail Director Jackie Douglas explained; “Our team all contributed generously to our chosen organisation – the Ballymena Foodbank. We raised £300 which will be donated to the organisation and converted into vouchers for their service users. This is a valued and much-needed service for those in our local community who are struggling with the cost of living, so we’re delighted to make such a contribution at a difficult time of the year for so many.” Pictured with the trolley stacked full of gifts for the Delivering Joy campaign are Holly Lecky, Kaytlin Graham Da Cruz and Michael Lowry from Specsavers Ballymena. Photo: contributed
8. Carols for charity
St Vincent de Paul representatives Thomas McReynolds, Sean Doherty, Clare Barr, John and Emily McKeown, receive a generous donation of £1,900 for the SVP annual appeal from Jonathan Brady, principal of St Killian’s College, Garron Tower, in Co Antrim, at the school’s carol service. Photo: Chris Neely