THE well-known ‘DJ Rockstar’ put his talents to good use again as he helped raise an impressive £4,000 for frontline health workers at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH).

With another dreaded lockdown then in the works at the time he was thinking up a fundraiser, Conor McCann – AKA ‘DJ Rockstar’– from Irvinestown felt the need to consider how this was going to impact on the frontline workers in hospitals, especially at the SWAH in Enniskillen.

Conor shared his own experiences and personal sadness over the lockdown, saying: “I have learned so much, not just about myself but about others.

“The one key lesson I will take forward is how amazing people can really be; how humbling our neighbours are and how lucky we are to be here, and to witness such love and generosity in places that often you would not have expected.

“I am just blessed to have family and friends around me who I can turn to for help as we continue these unforeseen times.”

Conor had already raised £2,000 for the hospital last May for the Intensive Care Unit at the SWAH, and almost 12 months later, thanks to the generosity of the local and wider community who once again tuned into his DJ Rockstar event, he was able to again lend a helping hand.

“Our target amount was £1,000 – however we managed to raise a staggering £4,000. We were completely astounded by the response from everyone.

“We received many messages from staff and frontline workers at the SWAH during the events who were tuning in during their breaks to simply say thank-you, and add a cheeky bid on an auction prize!”

Conor continued: “I was humbled by the level of generosity during our first lockdown, where we raised a staggering £31,000.

“So, as you can imagine, a tentative approach was required, and I reached out again to those caring and loyal friends in Irvinestown, Fermanagh and across the globe for one more glorious effort to support our frontline workers in the Emergency Department at the SWAH.

“We had initially expected no more than 100 viewers each night of the two-weekend marathon disco and auction, but we doubled, even trebled that on certain nights.

“At its peak, the show had mroe than 400 people watching, with 5,000 views over the entire fundraiser. It was amazing to see the response.”

Consultant Ian Crawford from the Emergency Department at the SWAH said: “We are so humbled by the generosity of Conor and his team of kind-hearted followers who have shared this amazing amount of money.

“We don’t often get such a large amount like this for our staff, and we are all thoroughly delighted. This money will go towards training and supporting nurses and emergency department staff to ensure we can present the best quality service for Fermanagh, Tyrone and neighbouring counties.”

Conor continues to recognise the dedication and commitment of his hard-working team, generous business owners throughout Fermanagh, and of course, his beloved and loyal community of disco supporters who have played a small yet vital part in ensuring the emergency staff at the SWAH are just that little bit better equipped to deal with the challenging pandemic issues they have had to face each day.