Snow Patrol star Gary Lightbody donates £50,000 to charities

Snow Patrol star Gary Lightbody has given a huge boost to a local charity with a £10,000 donation.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Dec 2020, 14:25 GMT
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The donation came from the Lightbody Foundation which was set up by the singer to support various good causes.

Staff at Portadown Cares were absolutely delighted when they received news of the massive donation.

A spokesperson said: “We at Portadown Cares are blown away by this totally unexpected and so much appreciated donation.

Pacemaker Press 31/5/2018 Lead Singer Gary Lightbody, as Snow Patrol perform during a free gig at the HMV store in Belfast. The news comes as the band head for their first UK number one album in 12 years with Wildness. They will also be returning to Belfast later this year for a show at the SSE Arena. They will perform in the city on December 7, as well as at the 3Arena in Dublin on December 11. Pic PacemakerPacemaker Press 31/5/2018 Lead Singer Gary Lightbody, as Snow Patrol perform during a free gig at the HMV store in Belfast. The news comes as the band head for their first UK number one album in 12 years with Wildness. They will also be returning to Belfast later this year for a show at the SSE Arena. They will perform in the city on December 7, as well as at the 3Arena in Dublin on December 11. Pic Pacemaker
Pacemaker Press 31/5/2018 Lead Singer Gary Lightbody, as Snow Patrol perform during a free gig at the HMV store in Belfast. The news comes as the band head for their first UK number one album in 12 years with Wildness. They will also be returning to Belfast later this year for a show at the SSE Arena. They will perform in the city on December 7, as well as at the 3Arena in Dublin on December 11. Pic Pacemaker

“This has been an extremely hard year and we have found ourselves helping people who in previous years would have been in a situation to donate.

“We will use this money to continue to bring help to those who need it and it will increase our capacity to do so.

“From all of us on the Portadown Cares committee, we thank you on behalf of those in our area who will benefit and wish each and everyone of you a very merry Christmas.”

In a post on Facebook Gary Lightbody said: “These five charities People’s Kitchen Belfast, Together NI, Portadown Cares, LIFEHub NI and Unit T supply food, support and aid to people in dire need all over NI, the demand for which has soared this year. They are helping bring people in our wee country a sense of normalcy and kindness this Christmas. Thanks to all these charities for the work they do.”

Explaining the reasoning behind the foundation he said: “I called it the Lightbody Foundation because it is a family organisation. The foundation is made up of my sister Sarah, one of my best friends Davy Matchett (who I’ve known since I was 13 years old), Candice Cathers who has worked tirelessly with Davy and myself at Third Bar for many years and John D’Arcy one of the founder members and guiding lights of the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast. People who are either my actual family or my adopted family.”

“The other reason I named it the Lightbody Foundation is because when I was young I hated my name. People always laughed at it. It made me embarrassed. Now I love it. I’m proud of it. It’s strange and wonderful and it was passed down to me by my dear dad. I’m proud to use it for something I have put my heart into.

“We will be making donations to five or six charities twice a year. At this time they will all be charities in Northern Ireland. In time I hope we can widen our net to the whole of Ireland and the UK.”

He went on to say: “We want to try and help some of those NI charities that struggle in these tough times.

“We have partnered with the Community Foundation For Northern Ireland. They have been a massive help in connecting us with charities across the country. Thank you to them for their help and support.

“There is no remit. We’ll give to causes across the board. Mental health, education, music, dementia, sport, cancer and disease research and many other things… I don’t want to narrow our focus. The focus is Northern Ireland, countrywide. Across communities and divides. As a great man once said ‘there is no them, there’s only us’.

“The money will come from me. We will not be asking for public donations ever (the people of NI give a lot to charity already) but we will at some point in the future be asking businesses that have done well in NI to match our donations.

Jade organising her wedding and funeral - read hereEditor’s message:

Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.