IN the run-up to what has been described as a "very special" Christmas for Dromore Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, the congregation raised or collected a total of almost £5,000 for a range of charities and its own building fund.
Amounts ranged from £211 to £1,536 and £1,800.
Also hailed a success was the Bible Class's shoebox appeal, as a result of which a grateful Mr. John Brown of Blytheswood was presented with 56 boxes.
Fundraising events included a Big Breakfast and ba
g packing at SuperValu, Dromore.
Thanks went to everyone who supported the fundraising efforts, the church's most recent newsletter assuring all concerned that their help was very much appreciated.
To date the total amount raised by the Big Breakfast, proceeds of which go to the church building fund, stands at £1,800, while the bag packing brought in £1,536 in aid of Action Cancer's Big Bus.
Meanwhile, charities benefitting from a number of church collections include the Paul Russell Trust, the Earl Haig Fund, Multiple Sclerosis, the Orphan Society and the Cancer Unit at Belfast City Hospital.
The offering at the Sunday School's Christmas Service raised £211.10 for a cause close to the church's heart, the Paul Russell Trust.
Dromore boy Paul suffers from Apert's Syndrome; he was born with all of his digits completely fused together, each of his fingers having to be surgically separated, in tandem with plastic surgery.
Paul has endured a series of operations on his hands, for which he has had to travel regularly to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, but he defied the odds to carry on his family's passion for music and in 2008 the then nine year-old, a member of the Patricia Hamilton School of Music and Performing Arts, was awarded a 'Merit' in his Pre-Preparatory piano examination.
Last year he had his achievement recognised at the London College of Music Dromore Charity Concert, where he was presented with the 'Sonya Russell Award for Musical Achievement'.
Congtratulations on the service went to the Sunday School children, with thanks to Helen Dickson and her fellow Sunday School and Bible Class leaders.
The church's Candlelight Service saw £231.47 collected for the Belfast City Hospital Cancer Unit; the annual Orphan Society collection totalled £578; £275 was collected for the Earl Haig Fund and £324.02 was gathered for Multiple Sclerosis at the Christmas morning service.
