Family raise over £35,000 in memory of beloved daughter they lost in farm accident

People from Newry, Armagh, Dundalk and even further afield came together in March for an afternoon tea to raise funds for the charity.

Abbie very sadly passed away on a Saturday afternoon in November 2019 following a tragic accident in the Bernish area, near Newry.

Following the loss of their eldest daughter, parents Andrew and Lorna asked for donations in lieu of flowers for Air Ambulance NI and donated £3,700 to the charity in Abbie’s memory.

After Christmas 2021, the family wanted to honour their daughter’s memory and support the charity once again, but in a way that would bring the community together, after a difficult couple of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Abbie’s mum, Lorna, explained: “Abbie was such an outgoing, fun and loved child.

“She was involved in Damolly football team, went to Excel Gymnastics and had lots of friends and people who knew her.

“After a very difficult few years, we wanted to do something that would bring people together in her memory and we thought of an afternoon tea.”

Lorna described the support provided by the local community as “incredible”.

“My family, friends and I got our heads together and started pulling together a plan,” she added.

“We created posters and started putting them round the local community and asking businesses for donations.

“We were completely overwhelmed by the support.

“Almost every single business we went to either took in a collection box to raise funds or donated money or a raffle item, the support has been phenomenal, and we are so grateful.”

Abbie’s dad, Andrew, commented: “In the run up to the event, people were coming to our house dropping off donations, raffle items and baked goods for the tea.

“We were so well supported.

“The afternoon tea in the Hall for All, Newry, was fantastic.

“The amount of food that was baked and brought to the event was amazing.

“The venue was beautifully decorated, and it was packed.

“We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day, and so people sat outside on chairs having their tea, and it was buzzing inside with everyone enjoying the raffle and beautiful music sung by David and Jessica Muldrew, Sinead Heaney, Laurence Bellew, Emily Morrow and Lucia Wilson.

“People came from everywhere to support it, it just meant everything to us.”

The event was organised from start to finish in just a couple of months and, during that short time, a phenomenal £35,401.09 was raised through this event and handed over to Air Ambulance NI in memory of Abbie.

Kerry Anderson, head of fundraising at the charity, stated: “It is so touching that the Nummy family, friends and community chose to raise funds whilst bringing the community together to remember Abbie.

“The impact of this is huge as the considerable donation will fully fund six days of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and likely enable the medical team to be there for 12 critically ill or injured patients.”

Abbie’s family would like to say a heartfelt thank you to every single person who supported them in helping to organise the event, donated, and came along on the day.