Loughmacrory cyclists raise £22,000 for MS Society

A GROUP of local charity cyclists presented the fruits of their labour to representatives from the MS Society last weekend, handing over a cheque worth £22,0000.

One month ago, in early August, ten cyclists undertook a grueling journey from the shores of Lough Ness to the banks of Loughmacrory, raising more than £22,000 in the process.

At the heart of the group was a woman from Loughmacrory who suffers with MS, Tracy Kelly.

Traversing the winding roads of Scotland and the rolling hills of Ireland’s north coast, Tracy, along with the rest of the group, including her brother Noel and sister Monica, returned to a heroes welcome in their native Loughmacrory at the start of last month, after an massive 600k cycle.

Last weekend, at a pub in Dungannon, a cheque worth £22,000 was passed to member of the MS Society.

Following the handover, the UH spoke with Tracy’s brother Noel to find out how the evening went.

“It was great to finally be able to give the money over to the unbelievable organisation that everyone put in those hard miles to support,” began Noel.

“It was an especially proud moment for Tracy.

“She is over the moon and already starting to look around for her next challenge.”

Noel admits that he was worried that 600k may have been enough to ‘give Tracy a sickener of the cycling’.

However, to his delight, both Tracy and her sister Monica were back in the saddles last weekend.

“Tracy says that the cycling has helped with her condition.

“The fitness has made a difference to her quality of life.

“Like many other people who have MS. she still has good days and bad days, but there are more good ones than there were before, and the bad ones are not as bad as they used to be,” said Noel.

The colossal amount of money the group raised, said Noel, will be used to run programmes to help improve the lives of local people with MS, as well being invested in research to find better ways to treat and, hopefully, one day, cure the condition.

“Thanks to everyone who supported us.

“We are all looking forward to seeing what Tracy is going to do next.”