THREE little girls from Kilkeel have raised over £600 in aid of The Children’s Cancer Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Eliza Rose McCulla (7), Sophia McCormick (8), and Hope Dale (7), spent two weekends selling bracelets and doing dances at the end of their driveways at Grange Meadows in Kilkeel for the cause.
The unit is where Hope receives treatment for leukaemia.
Hope and her two friends decided to raise money for the nurses and staff who are looking after her.
Eliza-Rose’s mum Amy explained how she felt about what the girls have achieved.
“They are an inspiration to be honest. They are so selfless,” she said.
“They could have kept it all for themselves, but they didn’t. I just think it is absolutely amazing.”
Amy explained that the girls’ fundraising idea came about as a result of being bored.
“On Friday they went down to Hope’s nanny’s house and came back up with a wee collapsible table. They said they were bored.
“I said to them I have a couple of bracelet-making sets in the house, if they wanted, they could sit and make bracelets at the table.
“Then they came up with the idea that they were going to try and sell them.”
So, the girls made the bracelets, then set up business on the Grange Meadow estate on Sunday (April 19) and sold the bracelets to their friends.
Amy said: “All the mummies came down and emptied their purses.
“They were making pennies. But then they started making signs, and decided to charge a pound for a bracelet, a pound for a ring, a pound for a necklace, and a pound for a dance.
“They shuffled up to the roundabout on our estate. They stood there with their handmade signs and waved them at the people who were walking past.”
In an hour they had raised over £135. By the end of the day they had over £200.
“They came in and said they wanted to give the money to Hope and the people who help Hope.
“So we are going to donate it to the cancer unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
“That is what they decided.”
Such was the success of the first day, Sophia, Eliza Rose and Hope had a second day of fundraising on Sunday (26 April).
Hope and Sophia attend St Colman’s Primary School. Eliza Rose attends Kilkeel Primary School.
Eliza Rose’s family have lived in Grange Meadows for two years, and the three girls have been friends for most of that time.
Hope was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia) in May of last year.
Hope’s mum Shannon said she is delighted that the girls want to support the cancer unit in the Royal Victoria Hospital.
She said: “The people down there are out of this world. The nurses can never do enough for you.”
Shannon said, just like Amy, that she was surprised at the fundraising campaign going on in Grange Meadows.
“I was stunned when they came and said that they were doing it for the hospital.
“I asked them who came up with it, and they said they just wanted to do it for Hope’s hospital.”
