A Kesh salon owner has raised £8,000 for a local Down Syndrome charity in support of her goddaughter.

Recently Lynn Ogle, owner of Innovation Massage & Beauty in Kesh, moved her business to a new premises in the village. Seeing the official opening night as an opportunity for fundraising, she decided to host a charity raffle in aid of the Fermanagh Down Syndrome Support Group which provides support for her goddaughter Harper Lindsay and her family.

“I said to Harper’s parents, ‘if we get £1,000 it would be brilliant’,” said Lynn, whose aim was to raise enough money to send Harper and her friends on a trip or two. However, the fundraising raffle ended up being more successful than she could ever have imagined.

“The raffle absolutely took off, with people donating the most amazing prizes, not only from Kesh but from Pettigo, Ederney, Irvinestown and Enniskillen. We ended up with a whopping 70 prizes for our raffle on the night,” she told this newspaper, adding: “All the communities came together with support for this amazing charity.”

Hosted by DJ Bob (Robert Anderson), the raffle took place live at the salon and was also streamed online during the opening night on Friday, August 20.

“The outcome was just absolutely outstanding with £8,000 raised in total between cash donations and ticket money from the night.

“We honestly can’t thank everyone enough for all their kindness, generosity and support! This money will be a huge benefit to this wonderful charity, helping to make some lovely memories along the way,” said Lynn, who added: “Of course I couldn’t have managed all of this without the help from my family, Keith and Lauren Ogle. There were a lot of tickets to raise this amount of money!”

“Everybody knows Harper so they just couldn’t give enough,” she told this newspaper.