Over €5k raised from Athlone Rotary’s Remembrance Tree event

The Rotary Club of Athlone has raised over €5,000 from its Tree of Remembrance event, after making a number of changes to the annual fundraiser due to the pandemic.

The money will now be distributed to the Esker House Women's Refuge in Athlone, Mental Health Ireland, and Rotary charities, with the majority of the total going to the first two causes.

Billy Nott, the president of Athlone Rotary, said Esker House had incurred additional expense as a result of Covid-19, and was glad of any financial support, while the Midlands branch of Mental Health Ireland has several projects designed to improve mental health in the region.

In normal times, the Tree of Remembrance initiative involves people making a donation to have a ribbon placed on the Christmas tree in Athlone's Civic Square containing the name of a loved one who is deceased or living away from home at Christmas time.

This year, instead of the display of ribbons on the tree, Rotary supplied yellow ribbons on trays at various locations in Athlone which could be brought home and put on a tree or in a window, remembering absent family members and friends.

In addition to the trays at various retail outlets, two collection points were set up at Applegreen, Arcadia, and in a hut at the Christmas Market, with masked and socially-distanced members of Rotary in attendance.

A 'Go Fund Me' page was also set up, which brought in approximately 50% of the income from the event.

At time of writing, in excess of €5,000 had been raised from the public, all of which will be donated to the specified charities.

Athlone Rotary thanked Applegreen and the Athlone Chamber of Commerce for the collection points; the retail outlets which displayed the trays; and the public for their donations.