Chilli eating competition raises £600 for mental health charity
A chilli eating competition held in the Guildhall Taphouse just last month raised a fantastic £600 for local mental health charity, AWARE.
AWARE based in Queen Street, is the national depression charity for Northern Ireland providing education and support to people on the illness of depression and bipolar disorder.
The chilli eating competition brought together eight young men who each fundraised money individually to participate in the competition which seen them eating ‘hot and spicy’ dishes such as chilli nachos and chillies stuffed with chillies. But in the end there could only be one winner, and that was Andy Doherty.
Andy works at the Guildhall Taphouse and helped organise the chilli eating competition fundraiser for AWARE in response to the growing number of mental health issues across Foyle. Andy said,
“There are so many people in the city with mental illnesses such as depression and people are suffering in silence because they are too afraid of telling people how they really feel so they aren’t getting the help they need to recover.
“I and a couple of friends got together because we wanted to do something to help. AWARE was a natural choice because they are a local charity offering services to local people with depression, so it’s important that we try to support them as much as we can.
"I am delighted the chilli eating competition raised £600 as this adds to the money we have previously raised for AWARE through a football match organised last year which raised £3000 for AWARE.
"We are also in the process of organising a white-collar boxing event in the Everglades Hotel which will hopefully take place in December. We are doing this because we want to get the message out to people that help is available if you are suffering from depression.”
Michelle Byrne, Communications Officer from AWARE said: “Thanks to Andy and his friends for organising this fundraising competition for AWARE and to everyone at the Guildhall Taphouse for supporting the event. All money raised from fundraising events such as this is crucial in allowing us to continue our life saving services across Derry and beyond.
"Depression can affect anyone at any stage in their life, and unfortunately there is still a massive stigma attached to the illness. Support from the local community helps us to tackle this stigma.
“We are delighted to also be holding our annual Mood Walk in the city this September. This is the perfect opportunity for anyone that wants to support AWARE to come along and participate.
"Anyone can take part in the Mood Walk and you can choose to walk (or run) 5k or 10k. All money raised from the AWARE Mood Walk is put back into AWARE to help improve mental health services in the Derry/Londonderry area. More information can be found on the AWARE website at www.aware-ni.org”