Sunflower fundraiser blooming successful

Sunflower fundraiser blooming successful

13 December 2023

AN Annacloy woman has raised £10,000 for two charities after planting sunflowers in her uncle’s field.

To raise this amount of money for Marie Curie and Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke, Eva Rowan and her uncle, Gerard McGrath charged each family £5 to enjoy the picturesque sunflowers whilst having a fun family day out.

“The idea was to have families come and enjoy a day out and take some picturesque photos with the sunflowers as the back,” explained Eva.

“We did something similar last year and we had a few local musicians play for visitors to enjoy while they took in the sunflowers.

“The success of last year surprised us, a lot of people took an interest so we wanted to make this year bigger and better.”

Eva (20) studies music at Queen’s University Belfast and is part of the indie-rock band called “The Thing Is…”, who write and perform their own songs.

With her band and other local musicians, Eva came up with the idea for ‘Sessions in the Sunflowers’, to generate more buzz about the sunflower field during the summer. 

“The musicians were all absolutely brilliant – I can’t thank them enough for coming and making the event what it was,” said Eva.

“We had visitors from places like Belfast, Bangor and Newry, so it was a great success and people seemed to really have a great time – it exceeded our expectations.

“We chose the charities because they are very important to us. There are a lot of people in our community who are vulnerable and have suffered from terrible illnesses. These charities have helped so many.

“The nurses at Marie Curie looked after my aunts when they were battling cancer and made sure they were as comfortable as possible when they were receiving end-of-life care.”

Eva added: “It was nice to do a mini-music festival that was filled with positive vibes and enjoyment so that we can give back to these brilliant charities that have done so much for so many people in the community.”