IN PICTURES: O’Donovan Rossa fundraiser raises over £152,000

A Quid Game fundraising event organised by O'Donovan Rossa GAC, Magherafelt, has succeeded in raising over £152,000 to support the development of a new pitch at the club.

The successful night also saw the winning contestants donate a combined total of £10,725 to ten local charities and community organisations.

Held in a packed Parish Centre, Magherafelt, the Quid Game fundraiser saw 53 contestants raise funds over a series of weeks for the right to compete in a series of challenges to win four cash prizes of £7,500, £3,500 and two £2000.  

The top five fundraisers on the night received a ‘Golden Ticket’, giving them direct entry to a later stage of the competition.

Rossa’s winner on the night was Eamon Lennox, who received £7,500. The Rossa clubman donated £2,500 to his chosen charity, Mindwise, before proceeding to give £500 to each of his fellow Golden Ticket holders for their charities in recognition of their immense fundraising efforts. Charities and local organisations benefitting from the kind act include: STEPS, Gaelscoil an tSeanchaí, Haemochromatosis UK, ALPS, and NI Cancer Fund for Children.

Second place contestant, Chris Kearns, received £3500 and donated £2625.00 to Marie Curie. Other charities and community organisations benefitting from the night included those chosen by winning semi-finalists Charlie Vernon and Quintin Gilmore. Charlie Vernon donated £250 each to Armagh Harps GFC and O'Donovan Rossa,  £750 to NI Cancer Fund for Children, and £750 to NI Chest Heart and Stroke Foundation, while Slieve Gallion Community Pre School received £600 from Quintin Gilmore.

Praising the Magherafelt community for rallying behind the fundraiser, Club Chair Geoffrey Higgins, said: “This has been a phenomenal achievement for our club and our community. The commitment shown by each of the contestants, their fundraising efforts, and the generosity of those who supported them have been truly humbling. On behalf of the club, I want to thank everyone who donated, attended, sponsored, or helped in any way. This success belongs to all of us. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we’ll be beginning work on our new pitch in September, and we're looking forward to seeing even more Rossa victories there in the future.”

Sinead Higgins, Chair of the Organising Committee, paid tribute to the event’s sponsors and supporters, adding: “We could not have delivered something on this scale without our committed contestants, the backing of our community, and everyone who helped our contestants organise such a multitude of fundraising events in the run-up to our gala Quid Game finale. The energy shown by our Rossa members and the support given by the wider Magherafelt community were incredible to see. We want to say a huge thank you to our main event sponsor Cathcart’s Centra Magherafelt, to the Parish Centre, Magherafelt, to all our sponsors and our advertisers, and to every single volunteer who helped organise, set up, clean up, or kept things running smoothly behind the scenes. This event brought so much energy into our club and has reminded us all of the power of community.”

PICTURED ABOVE: Rossa 'Golden Ticket' contestants: Back Row: Darren Totten; Enda Quinn. Front Row L to R Neil Collins, Grainne McGuckin and Declan O'Loane with some of the cheques that were presented to local groups.

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