Castlederg family raise £36,000 for children’s hospital

THE family of a young Castlederg boy who lost his life in 2020 after developing a brain tumour, recently presented a cheque for £36,000 to a charity that supports the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Jake Rankin’s parents, Shalane and Darryl, and his siblings, Nikita and Sam, were proud to meet with representatives from Helping Hand in order to donate an astonishing tally of almost £40,000 which, at the end of summer, they raised through a charity concert and truck run held in Jake’s name.

Travelling to Belfast Royal Hospital for Sick Children at the begginning of the week, Jake’s family handed the cheque to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Afterwards, they explained to the UH what that moment meant.

“We just want to say a massive thank you to everyone that gave a donation, to everyone that gave prizes to raffle off for Jake’s fundraiser, and to all the fantastic truckers that took part in the truck run.

”None of this would have been possible without you.”

The first anniversary memorial concert, which took place in Albert Street car park in Castlederg and featured an all-star line-up including performances from The Logues, Lee Matthews and Claudia Buckley, was extraordinarily well-attended. People from Castlederg and far beyond turned out in their droves to support the event held in memory of the young Edwards Primary School pupil.

“We would not have been able to raise this amount without you all,” continued Jake’s family.

“To every single person who helped organise or took part in Jake’s fundraiser we will be eternally grateful. You all know who you are and we love you all.

Concluding, they simply said, “It’s impossible to thank everyone individually so please take this message as a huge thank you to everyone.”

The money raised will now go to help children – and their families – that find themselves in the same unfortunate position as Jake.

The name Jake Rankin will be will remain a force for good forevermore.