Pictured is Connlaith Ní Raifeartaigh, NICHS Community Fundraising Manager, Balloo Inns Team members - William Mills, Paula Boyd and Brian Glover – and Managing Director Jennie Sweeney. 

Balloo Inns Group has raised an impressive £20,000 for Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke (NICHS), the only local charity in Northern Ireland dedicated to the care and prevention of chest, heart and stroke survivors.

The 120-strong team of chefs, managers and front-of-house staff from across the group’s three award-winning dining pubs, The Parson’s Nose, The Poacher’s Pocket and Balloo House, took part in a number of initiatives throughout the last 12 months to raise some much-needed funds for a charity close to its heart.

Ronan Sweeney, Balloo Inns Managing Director and owner said: “We are delighted and proud to be able to support NICHS in this way. In the true spirit of teamwork, our staff came together to plan and execute a number of innovative and successful fundraising activities. We also could not have done it without the support and generosity of our customers, donating through the successful Eat and Defeat initiative.

“Having suffered from a stroke myself 10 years ago, this is a cause I feel very passionate about. I hope to use what happened to me to help others. Looking back, my wife Jennie and I could both have benefited from the support NICHS provides to stroke survivors and their families. With 11 people suffering a stroke every day in Northern Ireland, it is really important that we play our part in reducing these numbers.

“Stroke can affect people of all ages. The health checks, which are at the core of NICHS’s health promotion work, can play such a large part in detecting pre-existing conditions that evitability can increase the risk of stroke in people that otherwise seem healthy.  We are delighted that the money raised has helped to fund free health checks in the local area.”

Commenting on the fundraising efforts by Balloo Inns, Connlaith Ní Raifeartaigh, NICHS Community Fundraising Manager, said; “We are so unbelievably lucky and grateful to Ronan, Jennie, and the whole team at Balloo for their amazing support during the inaugural year of this partnership.

“NICHS offers practical and emotional support to individuals and families affected by these illnesses at what can be a difficult time in their lives. Over 80% of our work is funded by public donations so partnerships like Balloo Inns’ are extremely important to us. We genuinely could not continue to deliver our life-changing services without supporters like Balloo Inns.”

Currently there are over 335,000 people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions, and almost 40% of adult deaths are directly related to one of these illnesses. The £20,000 raised by Balloo Inns this year will go towards NICHS’s support groups and programmes, including the pop-up NICHS health checks in the local area such as Newtownards.

The Balloo Inns Group is continuing to support NICHS and is dedicated to reducing the number of deaths from preventable chest, heart and stroke illnesses in NI through its fundraising efforts.