The Ballyclare Field of hope will be open this week from 9am - 5pm, so if you’re off with the children over the Easter break, call by and enjoy some time picking your daffodils. You'll be very welcome and remember every bunch of daffodils you pick, and every penny you donate, is making a difference for someone in the community.

This special fundraising initiative first began in the Autumn of 2018 when a Ballyclare farmer wanted to find a way to help and support local people who wanted to make a difference in their communities.

He decided to plant some daffodils in a field near his home off the Hillhead Road in Ballyclare, thousands of them and he offered folk the opportunity to come and pick them. He asked for nothing in return, other than that every little bunch of flowers picked was used to give hope, joy and happiness.

People came in that first year, hundreds of them and the hope that grew in those little yellow flowers bloomed across the community, and in 2022 to support the people of Ukraine.

The field is open again this Spring, Monday to Saturday from 9am - 5pm, at Bingham's Plant Nursery, 191 Hillhead Road, Ballyclare.

This year, the field will be supporting two causes. The Trauma & Orthopaedics Research Charity (TORC) is a small but ambitious charity based in Musgrave Park Hospital. It works with a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and research staff to continually improve the provision of holistic care for all those with musculoskeletal injury or disease in Northern Ireland.

The field will also be supporting the campaign to make Ballyclare a Dementia Friendly Town. Sadly, there can be very few of us who don't know someone who is living with dementia. More than 20,000 people are living with dementia in Northern Ireland and people here are more likely to get a diagnosis than anywhere else in the UK.

Donation boxes are available at Binghams Plant Nursery but if you would prefer to make a donation online, go to this link https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fieldofhope2023

Two projects to benefit from Ballyclare 'field of hope'