An Enniskillen has spoken of her pride after she won an award for her fundraising efforts for Air Ambulance Northern Ireland following the death of her son.
Myrtle Irvine won the charity’s Volunteer of the Year award for the whole of the UK, after helping to raise £37,000.
Myrtle’s son Alistair sadly lost his life in 2016 while working as a research scientist in England.
The night that Alistair became unwell, Myrtle and her husband George were in attendance at a Rotary Club fundraiser for Air Ambulance, and the pair decided it was time to give back to the charity.
“My husband, George and I decided rather than have wreaths, with donations we would purchase a defibrillator for our local church, Enniskillen Cathedral and then all the remainder of the donations going towards the Air Ambulance NI,” Myrtle told MyFermanagh.
"On the Christmas of 2016 I decided to do something in memory of Alistair. I handmade forty wreaths and sold them, donating the £600 to the charity.
"The grief of losing our son at this stage was very raw, so it was one of my memorable fundraisers, that I did with tears in my eyes.
“The fact that it costs in the region of £5,500 per day in order to keep the Air Ambulance operational made us think of getting a volunteer group together.
“We began asking our friends to help and now have 27 volunteers in our Fermanagh group. This means we can help in the organising of large fundraising events.
What started for Myrtle as a way to contribute to the local charity, developed into her coordinating the group of 27, who have now raised in the region of £120,000.
“If we can save other families from going through the grief of losing a loved one then we will continue to be kept motivated in raising funds.
“I am proud to have won the Award and I am dedicating it, not only to the memory of our son, Alistair but to all those Volunteers in our Group who have lost loved ones too.”
