Charities who rely so heavily on the generosity of the public have seen their fundraising plans fall by the wayside as Covid-19 and the restrictions in place make it hard for them to continue on the important work they do.

Geraldine Corrigan, chairperson of the Friends of the Cancer Centre Fermanagh, has described it as a challenging period for charities right across Northern Ireland who have seen many of their avenues of fundraising dry up or cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.

“I know a lot events have been cancelled and it is very hard to get money in,” Geraldine says.

With sights set on raising £60,000 a year, things were looking positive for the local charity in the early part of 2020.

“Its been very hard on us as a local charity. At March we had raised £18,000 and we were off to a great start to the year now there isn’t any sort of events planned, our street collections have had to be cancelled.”

But Geraldine has high praise for those who have taken it upon themselves to try and raise funds for the charity.

“It is challenging but I mean the upside of it is how amazingly good local people have been to the charity at the present time during the pandemic.

“There are two local girls in Enniskillen, Lisa Dillon and Michelle Beacom, and every day since the beginning of June they have ran 5km to fundraise for the charity.

“You be very heartened. They are two young women with young kids so I suppose for them to make the time and feel so passionate about the charity at the present time, it is very heartening to hear they are so supportive.”

And with the Cancer Centre still operating and treating patients, it is in need of the vital money the charity brings in.

“I suppose in our case the Cancer Centre, the nurses and the staff at the Cancer Centre are still working and dealing with patients and our charity supports that and supports the work of the nurses and sadly patients are still getting cancer and still have to go the Cancer Centre for treatment so it is challenging.”

The charity would normally have a number of events planned around this time of year but they have been cancelled with their biggest fundraising event, a country festival in autumn also falling foul to the current situation.

But Geraldine is heartened by the ongoing generosity of some even though it may be a difficult time in people’s lives.

“People think of you as somebody who collects and its amazing how through the letterbox here at work people have left in small donations.

“So I am actually thinking of setting up a page in the next week or so so anybody who would have given to the street collections can donate online and at least we would have some sort of fundraising for the charities at this uncertain time.

“I suppose a lot of people are furloughed at the moment and you cant expect them to be giving to charity as they did in the past but every little does help a lot, even the small amounts.”

To donate to the Friends of the Cancer Centre visit:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Fermanagh.