The Ulster Farmers’ Union says it is celebrating another fundraising win after raising £4000 at Balmoral Show for its chosen charities.
UFU president, Ivor Ferguson said: “We look forward to the show every year. It’s a great opportunity to meet members and hear their thoughts and concerns on a variety of issues. We are pleased to the able to offer them complimentary refreshments when they visit our stand, with the option of donating to charity. Our members continue to do us proud when it comes to their generosity and I would like to thank everyone who made a donation.”
The £4,000 will be split evenly between the UFU’s chosen Balmoral Show charities – Queen’s University Centre for Cancer Research & Cell Biology (CCRCB), and The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I).
Ferguson selected Queen’s University CCRCB as his chosen charity for his final presidential year. Speaking in regards to his choice he said, “It was important for me that we picked a charity close to home. The money raised and donated to CCRCB at Queen’s University Belfast will go towards research here in Northern Ireland. Cancer is an awful disease that I’m sure has touched every UFU member’s family. We are proud to be raising funds to help CCRCB’s battle against cancer.”
Professor Chris Scott, acting director of Queen’s University CCRB said: “We are delighted to have the support of the Ulster Farmers’ Union as their charity of choice for the year. The money that has been raised will be used to buy new laboratory equipment and reagents that will promote our research programmes into understanding the molecular basis of cancer and determining the right therapy for the right patient at the right time.”
R.A.B.I is agriculture’s oldest and largest charity providing welfare advice, practical care and financial support to farmers, farmworkers and their families in times of need. Their service is personalised to suit individual needs and they work closely with local charity Rural Support to aid farmers.
Ferguson said: “R.A.B.I and Rural Support work together to provide vital support to many farmers in Northern Ireland. The funds raised will help to ensure this continues.”
R.A.B.I communications manager, Rob Harris said: “Nothing R.A.B.I achieves would be possible without fantastic supporters like the Ulster Farmers’ Union. Every week of the year, our supporters give both time and money to our cause by doing all sorts of things, from bungee jumping to hog roasts. Around 84 per cent of everything we spend goes towards charitable activities so the money raised by our supporters really does go a long way to changing the lives of farming people in need.”
This achievement follows on from the success of the UFU’s air ambulance fundraising appeal in 2018, which saw the UFU win the Institute of Fundraising NI award for fundraising partnership of the year.