Seized drugs cash will help Cancer Centre

Friends of the Cancer Centre, which is based at the heart of the Cancer Centre at Belfast City Hospital, is one of Northern Ireland’s leading cancer charities working to support patients and their families.

The charity relies entirely on voluntary donations to make a positive and meaningful difference to the lives of thousands of cancer patients, through the funding of life changing and life-saving projects. The positive work of Friends of the Cancer Centre is in stark contrast to the caustic effect of drug use, where the greed of dealers comes at the physical and mental cost of drug users and their families.

The cash was seized after Ballymena police officers searched a house in the town under the Misuse of Drugs Act last July.

A man was arrested in the house for possession of drugs and possession with the intent to supply and later pleaded guilty to both offences. The house search turned up the cash and, at court, the judge directed that the police should decide upon a fitting recipient of the cash.

Claire Hogarth, Events and Community Fundraising Manager for Friends of the Cancer Centre, was delighted with the subsequent donation, she said: “On behalf of everyone at Friends of the Cancer Centre, I would like to say a very big thank you to the PSNI in Ballymena for their donation.

“This money, which was once used for something very negative and destructive, will now be used for good to make a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people affected by cancer right here in Northern Ireland.”