Tesco shoppers thanked as Carrick club’s Remembrance Tree passes £100,000 target

The tree was located at the town’s Tesco store in the run up to Christmas

Proceeds will go to support the work of Action Cancer and Children’s Hospice.

Last year, Covid restrictions meant the fundraiser, which the club has organised since 2009, had to be paused. The total collected at the tree up to that point was £94,000 so the target for its return this year was to reach £100,000. The sum of £10,000 handsomely exceeds that target.

Rotarians says this is a huge tribute to Tesco shoppers who welcomed them warmly and contributed freely.

Carrickfergus Rotary Club president Sam Crowe, who initiated this project and has managed it since, said: “But for the foresight of Tesco management at the outset, their on-going support, in particular that of their Community Champion Anne Ritchie, this venture would not have been possible.

“The members of the Rotary Club of Carrickfergus are grateful to Tesco for facilitating the tree, grateful to the volunteer collectors and especially grateful to Tesco shoppers for their generous response.”

The first Tree of Remembrance - or Tree of Hope as it was initially called - invited members of the public, in exchange for a donation, to tie a ribbon on the tree in memory of someone known to them. This year well in excess of 1,000 ribbons were added to the tree’s decorations and collectors were touched by the many personal stories heard in the process.

Every year since 2009 Action Cancer and Children’s Hospice have been beneficiaries of the money raised but other groups including alzheimer’s, diabetes and children’s cancer charities have been supported along the way.