Tiny village leads way in raising hospice funds
Situated half way between Kilmacthomas and Bonmahon, and with just one pub and the parish church as its focal points, Ballylaneen is the archetypal sleepy village, and a visitor would be forgiven for thinking little happens there.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, and the effort of this small community on behalf of hospice care in Waterford is a role model of what can be achieved by so few on behalf of so many. The latest batch of funding was presented at the Bally Inn in Ballylaneen at the weekend.
The first chapter in this heart-warming story was written more than 16 years ago, in December 1991. In the years since the Christmas dinner and auction at the Bally Inn has been the centrepiece of Ballylaneen’s social diary, and has helped raise €160,778, every cent of which has gone directly to hospice care in the Waterford area.
Preparations for the annual auction commence as early as October when a small group of volunteers assigns responsibilities for the work ahead. The primary task is to collect items for auction, and each volunteer undertakes to canvas shops and businesses in a particular area of Waterford city and county.
Other volunteers arrange permits, the printing and sale of tickets, the cutting and collection of timber for sale at the auction and, not least, the preparation and cooking of Christmas dinner for the large crowd who show up each December in search of bargain Christmas presents for friends and family.
If the Christmas dinner and auction is the primary fundraiser, the fundraising group supplements its income by a series of other events.
In 2007 a new initiative saw the group’s volunteers undertake a series of bag packing and bucket collections in stores throughout Waterford. Duck races, pram pushes, Christmas Day swims, mini marathons, polocross, carol singing and the New Year’s Eve sponsored haircut are other popular fundraisers.
The fundraising group are grateful to the many local shops and businesses in Waterford, Tramore, Dungarvan, Kilmacthomas and surrounding areas, whose annual contributions have made the auction possible, as well as the hundreds of patrons who contribute so generously and consistently to their other fundraising activities throughout the year.
At the handover ceremony in the Bally Inn Tony Kavanagh of the Waterford Hospice Movement paid tribute to the work of the Fundraising Committee.
