Christmas comes early to two Waterford charities
Dungarvan Palliative Care and the Craig Breen Foundation were the beneficiaries
It was a case of jingle bells and Christmas coming early for two local charities in Waterford recently when they were presented with cheques from a fundraising initiative.
Dungarvan Palliative Care Unit and the Craig Breen Foundation were the shared beneficiaries of a monster cheque for €67,109.57.
Their big cash bonus came from the proceeds of 'Déjà Vu Waterford ’25', the great rallying reunion that took place on October 11 and 12.
“We, and our local representatives Frank and Pat Scanlon, are delighted to present this cheque to these two very worthwhile charities," said a spokesperson for the organisers.
"The co-operation we received in the planning and execution of the event was second to none," he said.
"The Council, the Garda, the Dungarvan Park Hotel, Shane Houlihan, along with other local business leaders, and the Tipperary and Yesteryear Motor Clubs, all weighed in to make the October weekend an outstanding success," he added.
Commenting on the initiative, Alan (Plum) Tyndall and Alan Graham, the Directors of RPM Déjà vu Motorsport Ltd, said: "The latest amount brings the overall total raised by Déjà vu Motorsport to over €425,000 since the idea of the motor sporting reunions was first muted in 2016."
“From the moment we, and the Friends of the Dungarvan Community Hospital group, were approached about the ‘Déjà Vu’ event coming to Co Waterford we were delighted to become involved," they said.
"The ‘Déjà Vu’ event brought great colour to the county and we are delighted that the palliative care services we provide in the Vincent’s Unit at the hospital were identified to benefit from the funds raised this year," they added.
Meanwhile, Paula French (Director of Nursing at Dungarvan Community Hospital, HSE Dublin and South East), said: "We are very thankful, on behalf of our hospital which provides care for those facing life-limiting or life-threating illnesses, to RPM Déjà vu Motorsport and everyone involved for providing this money, the largest single donation that we have ever received."
Ray Breen, the father of World Rally Championship driver Craig Breen, who tragically lost his life in a testing accident in Croatia in 2023, also expressed gratitude to the organisers on behalf of the Craig Breen Foundation: "I I would like to thank RPM Déjà vu Motorsport and their team most sincerely for such a successful event. The proceeds that the Craig Breen Foundation has received from Déjà Vu Waterford ’25 will assist us in our continuing support of the development of enthusiastic young athletes as they progress to the next stage of their rallying careers."
"It was Craig’s wish to help and nurture young Irish talent and we have already supported many young drivers with financial assistance on rounds of the J1000 series, which has trebled in numbers in the last two seasons in the National Forestry Rally series," said Ray, who also expressed thanks on behalf of his family and Andy Hayes and Andrew Fanning from the Craig Breen Foundation.
