Major milestone reached by Tipperary Vintage Rally passing €250,000 mark in funds raised

Pictured above: Sinaida Jansan, South Tipperary Hospice Movement, Jack Leonard, Tipperary Vintage Rally Chair, Seán O'Donovan and John O'Heney, Board Members of South Tipperary Hospice Movement, receive a cheque.

A major milestone has been reached by Tipperary Vintage Rally with the announcement that they have passed the €250,000 mark in funds raised for the South Tipperary Hospice Movement over a 15-year period.

There was a great air of celebration at the Tipperary Community Services Centre on Friday, February 3 for the announcement and for the presentation of a cheque to the Hospice of €5,380.96 - which brought the total to over a quarter of a million euro (€250,380.96).

TDs, councillors, the county council Cathaoirleach and representatives of An Garda Síochána and many community bodies were present to hear Vintage Rally member and local radio presenter, Stevie O’Donnell, announce that a major milestone had been reached in topping the quarter of a million euro figure.

Stevie reminded everyone that the work of the group will continue with the annual Easter Vintage Rally at the Supermacs Plaza on Easter Sunday and the “Trip thru Tipp” bike run on the previous day (Easter Saturday).

The Vintage Rally Group was founded in 2008 when current Chair Jack Leonard along with Steve Thornton and Eddie Spencer came together with the idea of running an event to raise money for cancer.

Jack Leonard takes up the story.

"The three families had been affected by cancer so we thought we would do a vintage rally and give the proceeds to the hospice movement. It was very successful the first year with over €23,000 raised on the day and it has continued from there.

"I would like to pay tribute to Steve and Eddie and their partners who worked with me to make it possible. It started off small and we never thought we would reach the figure that has been reached to date. We could not have continued doing this every year without the support of the Supermacs Plaza Group.

"They have been wonderful to us and it is a fantastic venue. Without their support and that of other companies around Tipperary we would not have been able to raise this amount of money.

"I also want to thank Anne Grace and her husband Richard who have been a huge support to the cause and all the people who have supported the different events over the years.

"I am honoured to be part of this group and I am just a small cog in the wheel. I couldn’t have done it without the support of the volunteers and the people who are here," said Jack. In accepting the cheque for €5,380.96, John O’Heney from the South Tipperary Hospice Movement commended the group on their work and commitment.

"Raising over €5,000 is a very significant amount of money and the amount of work that goes into raising that amount is just phenomenal. The love for Tipperary Vintage Rally extends throughout the entire area and the work that they have done over a period of 15 years is quite remarkable.

"Reaching the €250,000 milestone is really tremendous and as we can see it is not something that happened overnight.

"The work that has gone into this is incredible and the people that have been involved over the years deserve our sincere thanks and gratitude.

"People may not be aware but the sums of money needed to run the service are very significant. Every year we need to raise in the region of €750,000 to retain the service in the area.

"We are quite a unique service in that you can’t physically see the South Tipperary Hospice Movement. However, we are embedded in the community as we are in people’s homes.

"We provide palliative care to people in their own homes and we provide hospice beds in nursing homes.

"There is nobody here who hasn’t been affected by cancer in one way or the other and this money goes directly to the services that we provide.

"I want to pay tribute to the nursing team who are an amazing group of people led by Aisling Fanning from Bansha and to Sinaida Jansan and Marie Harold Barry in the office in Clonmel and the small team of volunteers who support them.

"To come together and do what the Vintage Rally has done is remarkable and I can’t think of another organisation in the county that has achieved this milestone in that period of time and they deserve every praise that can be bestowed upon them," said John.

The Manager of Tipperary Community Services Centre, Brian English, also paid tribute to the Tipperary Vintage Rally.

"We are delighted to be able to showcase the centre on what is a huge occasion for the Tipperary Vintage Rally and for the local community. We are hosting this event as the Tipperary Vintage Rally have their meetings here as do many other community groups. This centre is the home of Tipperary Meals on Wheels, serving 120 meals per day to a 10km catchment area.

"We are also home to Tipperary Mid-West Radio, to Citizens Information and to Tipperary Town ETB. We currently have 42 students in the centre (Monday to Friday), four tutors and four full-time courses (Tipperary Town ETB) and in September 2023 there will be an extra course with an extra tutor and more students.

"A host of community organisations use the centre on a weekly basis for meetings and events and one of those is the Tipperary Vintage Rally, and we wish them continued success," said Brian.

Our congratulations to the Tipperary Vintage Rally on reaching this important milestone in their fundraising campaign and continued success to them in the future.