Charity group calls time after 50 years and £250000 raised

The dedicated volunteers held a coffee morning at The Gobbins Community Centre in Islandmagee on Saturday April 23.

Local residents who had supported the group and donated funds over the years turned out in force to show their appreciation for the group’s efforts.

Throughout the decades the Islandmagee committee have held a wide range of fundraising events, including door-to-door collections, whist drives, coffee mornings, sponsored cycles and concerts.

The success of the group was bolstered by exellent support from local people and businesses who attended events and donated, including annual contributions from workers at Ballylumford Power Station.

Secretary of the Islandmagee Committee Margaret Henderson commented: “We organised two or three events every year. Through it all, the generosity of the community was overwhelming and we really would like to say a big thank you to every who supported us.

“We would also like to thank all of those who have been part of the committee or supported our fundraising activities.”

Cancer Research UK’s senior local fundraising manager Mark McMahon said: “On behalf of everyone at Cancer Research UK, I would like to thank everyone involved with the Islandmagee CRUK Local Committee and the local community who supported them for their fantastic contribution to the life-saving work of our doctors, scientists and nurses.

“We do not receive any government funding for our work so we rely on the generosity of people like those in Islandmagee who work tirelessly, year after year, to organise events that helped raise a quarter of a million pounds.

“In the time that the committee has been raising funds for cancer research, survival rates have doubled with two in four people surviving cancer for 10 years or more, compared to one in four people in the early 1970s. This would not have happened without the support of groups like the one in Islandmagee.”

Cancer Research UK invests over £2 million on research in Northern Ireland, primarily at the Belfast Cancer Research Centre.

It also co-funds the NI Cancer Trials Network, with the Clinical Trials team developing and conducting clinical trials into new cancer treatments in five hospitals across Northern Ireland.

To find out more about the work of Cancer Research UK or to help with fundraising in the Islandmagee and Larne areas, contact Mark McMahon on 07775 790675 or at [email protected].