Almac Group employees raise £50,000 for Angel Wishes and the Children’s Heartbeat Trust

Funds raised as a result of the draw, which which offered more than 130 prizes, will enable the charities to continue to provide invaluable support to young people and their families across Northern Ireland.

Elaine Gibson, Almac Group’s Global Travel and Events Manager, said: “We are really pleased that thanks to the generosity of our employees, we have raised £50,000 from the raffle and can donate such a significant sum of money to both Angel Wishes and the Children’s Heartbeat Trust.”

Samantha Coleman, fundraising manager for Children’s Heartbeat Trust said: “Thank you most sincerely to Almac and their staff for their generous donation of £25,000 to the vital work of Children’s Heartbeat Trust. Every year in Northern Ireland 200 babies are born with a congenital heart defect. We provide, financial, emotional and practical support to children and their families living with CHD, supporting close to 500 families on a yearly basis, a diagnosis of CHD can be extremely frightening and we are there for families when they need us most. We do not receive any government funding so are indebted to companies like Almac who so generously give to our important work.”

Gaye Kerr, Angel Wishes, commented: “Angel Wishes cannot begin to express our gratitude to Almac for all their generosity and support they have given our charity from day one. The amount of money raised is phenomenal and will make a huge difference to our families in Northern Ireland affected by cancer related conditions.

"On a very personal note, I would like to thank Almac for helping me to keep the legacy/memory of my children Helen (aged three) and Brian (aged 10) alive through the smiles of others.”

The draw was hosted by Almac Group’s CEO, Alan Armstrong and live-streamed on the company’s intranet.

The Almac Group is an established contract development and manufacturing organisation providing an extensive range of integrated services across the drug development lifecycle to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors globally.