By Annie Stewart
A BANGOR family have raised over £1,000 for charity in a bid to ‘give back’ and say thanks.
Angela Stallard and her family have been raising money for Northern Ireland Hospice, including her niece and nephew Lauren and Mike hiking on two of the highest peaks in the Mourne Mountains.
The family started fundraising in memory of Angela’s parents, Willem and Sheila Kane who passed away 14 weeks apart in 2023; Willem was well known in Bangor for fixing boats at Ballyholme Shipyard.
Angela’s niece and nephew climbed Slieve Donard (850m) and Slieve Commedagh (767m) on September 30 to raise much needed funds for the Northern Ireland Hospice.
While donations are still open, at time of print the pair have raised £1,045 for the charity.
Angela Stallard, said everyone is ‘so proud’ of them for taking on this challenge and her parents would have been ‘very proud’ of them.
“They are young and fit enough, but this was a challenge for them,” said Angela.
“Then the weather made it even more of a challenge but we are so proud of them. My parents would have been so proud, we laughed because afterwards we were texting after the climb and my daddy would have been saying ‘get away home, you’re being ridiculous’ and my mummy would have been on their shoulders, looking after them, she’d have been worried sick at the thought of them climbing mountains on that particular day.
“They would have been so proud, they’ve raised over £1000 and it’s still growing.”
The family were assisted by the Acute Specialist Palliative Care Team at the Ulster Hospital for Sheila and then the NI Hospice Community Team for Willem.
“They died 14 weeks apart; mummy was in the Ulster Hospital and she’d taken a bleed on her brain and she was on palliative care,” said Angela.
“The team was amazing not just with her but with us, they were looking after us too. My daddy was in residential care and he wanted to stay there, and they agreed they could stay there with the community palliative care team assisting the nursing home.
“And those guys, one girl in particular, Adele, was just amazing. She really worked with us, she was just amazing,” Angela recalled, adding Adele kept in contact after Willem had passed.
Raising funds for the charity is the family’s way of saying thank you; anyone who would like to donate can go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/kane-30091961.
