Feeny family's festive fundraiser donates £4,600 to North West Cancer Centre and Chest Heart and Stroke

A kind-hearted family from Feeny have donated nearly £5,000 to Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke and the North West Cancer Centre in Derry in memory of their parents.

Valued members of the Feeny community, Ann and Joe Guy, passed away in recent years after bringing joy to the village for a decade with their colourful Christmas light display.

As a tribute, siblings Alish, Joanne, Kieran and Christopher created a special Christmas light display at their parents’ Main Street residence to fundraise for the worthy charities.

Ailish Guy, who organised the fundraiser with her brothers and sisters, said:

“Over all we raised £4600 and each charity got £2300 each.

“We as a family are extremely happy and overwhelmed with the amount that we raised for these two special charities.

“Both charities have helped our family out and we are so pleased to be able to give something back to help them out. 

“At the minute, we haven't discussed any further fundraising events, but in the future, we may decide to do something else.” 

Ailish explained that the family had lost their dad in June 2023 and their mum in May 2022 and the family wanted to do something to commemorate their memory.

As Joe and Ann had been well-known for the vibrant festive illuminations at their house, the family decided to keep the tradition alive and raise much needed funds for two worthy charities.

The recipients of the family’s generous fundraisers were carefully chosen.

NI Chest, Heart and Stroke was selected as Anne had suffered a stroke ten years ago, Joe had undergone a quadruple by-pass eight years ago and Ailish herself had open heart surgery two years ago.

As Joe had died from cancer, the family had picked the North West Cancer Centre in Derry as their second charity to say thank you to the Sperrin Room at Altnagelvin and Ward 50 for Joe’s care.

Ailish expressed their gratitude towards the charities for their assistance during their parents’ illnesses:

“We wanted to thank the Sperrin Room and Ward 50 for all the help that they gave to Daddy and the Chest, Heart and Stroke for Daddy and Mammy for their support over the years and their continued support for myself.

“It’s just nice to be able to give back to them as a thank you.”

Valerie Saunders from Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke said;

“We are very thankful to the Guy family and all those who donated for their efforts in raising this fantastic amount for our charity.

“Today, as many as 470,000 people in Northern Ireland are living with a chest, heart or stroke condition.

“Almost 90% of NICHS’s care and prevention services and research projects are funded exclusively by donations so fundraising efforts like this are vital for our charity and what we can achieve.”

Ailish and her family were delighted by the generosity of the Feeny people in donating to the joint causes and thanked everyone from the village and beyond who supported the appeal.