Girls help charity by selling allotment veg

Three young Lisburn girls came up with a fresh approach to raising funds for charity by selling produce from a local allotment.
(L to R) Megan, Rodney Shortell of Alzheimers Society, Niamh, Una Caughey of Alzheimers Society and Erin.(L to R) Megan, Rodney Shortell of Alzheimers Society, Niamh, Una Caughey of Alzheimers Society and Erin.
(L to R) Megan, Rodney Shortell of Alzheimers Society, Niamh, Una Caughey of Alzheimers Society and Erin.

Erin Rice (10), Niamh Hughes (12) and Megan Hughes (8) raised a fantastic £130 for Alzheimer’s Society NI as the neighbourhood dug deep into their pockets to donate.

The girls harvested fresh produce and flowers from Erin’s dad’s allotment in Lambeth and Niamh and Megan’s garden in Lisburn and sold them at their stall on Belmont Drive. They even designed posters and flyers which they had distributed around the neighbourhood.

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Niamh and Megan’s mum, Karen Murray said: “They wanted to raise money for charity, they all headed down to the allotment and started digging up potatoes and cutting vegetables.

Erin and Megan at the vegetable sale which raised £130 for the Alzheimer's Society.Erin and Megan at the vegetable sale which raised £130 for the Alzheimer's Society.
Erin and Megan at the vegetable sale which raised £130 for the Alzheimer's Society.

“From start to finished they were involved in the whole event. They were up the night before digging spuds, they put the stall up themselves and cut up the produce themselves. People were being really generous and many made a donation as well as buying the produce which helped get the total up.”

A cheque was presented to the charity by the trio, Karen added: “Erin’s granny passed away a while ago after she had suffered from Alzheimer’s so the charity is close to Erin’s heart. They are writing thank you letters to post through the doors around the neighbourhood and are already planning their next one.”

Leanne Vennard of Alzheimer’s Society said: “We are so pleased to see young people uniting with us against dementia in this innovative way! The money raised will go towards supporting more than 20,000 people in Northern Ireland living with dementia now and research to eventually find a cure. Dementia is the 21st century killer. Until the day we find a cure, Alzheimer’s Society is here for everyone affected by dementia. But we can’t do that without the support of fundraisers like Erin, Megan and Niamh. We’d like to say a huge thank you to them, for their passion and enthusiasm and determination to beat dementia.”