Nobber area walkers raise €1,800 for cancer charity

A total of €1,800 has been raised by a group from the Nobber area which will go to the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre in Drogheda. A presentation to representatives of the Gary Kelly Centre was made in Keogan's Lounge, Nobber, last Friday night. During the Christmas period, a walk was organised from Donoghue's Lounge in Woodtown to Keogan's Lounge in Nobber, a total of 10km. This walk by the group from the Nobber and neighbouring areas at Christmas time is an annual event and the beneficiary of the walk on this occasion, which was held on Monday 27th December. A total of 34 walkers took part this year and the group raised over €1,100 at the time of the walk. They raised more, including through a raffle, which raised almost €500 on Friday night which brought the total amount to €1,800. On their return to Keogan's after the walk, a warming bowl of stew prepared by Margaret Lanney, awaited them and was much appreciated by all those who took part. Later on in Keogan's, singer Laura Yore, daughter of Eugene and Angela, entertained the walkers. Jim Condron, who with John Primrose organised the walk, thanked everyone sincerely for taking part in the walk and everyone who subscribed in any way towards the fundraising. He also thanked those who donated prizes for the raffle and Patricia and Susan Casey who sold tickets for the raffle on Friday in Keogan's. Jim thanked Seamus and Johnny Keogan of Keogan's and Maria Donoghue of Donoghue's Lounge in Woodtown for their continued support for the annual walk. Ann Tracey of the Gary Kelly Centre thanked the organisers and everyone who took part on the day and everyone who attended the presentation on Friday night. She said the money donated will go towards the day-to-day running of the centre, which looks after people from throughout the north-east. In 2010, over 6,000 people used the services of the centre and running costs for that year were in excess of €450,000. She added that the HSE contributed €12,500 last year, but this year they will not receive any funding from the HSE. “The difference between €450,000 and €12,500 was made up by the public by wonderful people like you who ran functions, put their hands into their pockets and made sure we have the money to continue to support the people and the families who needed it,†she said.