Praise for schoolgirl, 12, who raised £15k for hospice in just two years
A Northern Irish pre-teen girl who has raised more than £15,000 for charity since 2018 has been praised for her “compassion”.
Madison Wright from Carrickfergus, now aged 12, has organised coffee mornings, head-shaves, and non-uniform days in school in the past couple of years in order to drum up her remarkable five-figure total.
And following this accomplishment she is now to be named the first-ever “youth ambassador” for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.
The announcement today co-incides with the start of Children’s Hospice Week (running from today, June 22, until 28).
The charity describes it as “an opportunity to raise awareness of the charity and its vital care services for over 370 families across Northern Ireland”.
The charity said that Madison had become involved via her friendship with Gracie and Noah Coates – both of whom had stayed at Horizon House, a facility run by the charity on the O’Neill Road, not far from the boundary between Newtownabbey and north Belfast. Noah has since died; he passed away last summer from a rare neurological condition.
Madison said in a statement that she was “really pleased” to have been made an ambassador.
She added: “Horizon House is a very special place for babies and children who need special care and I’ve seen this with Gracie and Noah.
“I am excited about this role; I know it’ll be fun, especially during Children’s Hospice Week. There are lots of activities planned that I‘ll be joining during the virtual fun day on Friday.”
Grace Stewart, head of the charity, said that Madison “is an inspiration to us all... her compassion and drive to help others has meant that she has already made a big difference for Children’s Hospice – and we are delighted that she has agreed to be our Youth Ambassador”.
Around £15.5m is required for Northern Ireland Hospice and Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice to deliver their services each year.
In 2019 approximately £4m of this was funded by Government with the remaining £11.5m generated through corporate support, shops and fundraising activities.
It spends around £3,8m each year on keeping fundraising activities going.
Northern Ireland Hospice has been delivering palliative care to local people across Northern Ireland for over 39 years.
Hospice’s care services are based both in the community and in our specialist in-patient
units.
According to the Charity Commission’s website, the Nothern Ireland Hospice has 378 employees and 1,200 volunteers working for it.
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