The committee of volunteers behind Ballymahon’s multi award-winning boutique music festival Helium are delighted to announce the presentation of over €8,000 to Ataxia Ireland following the Helium 2012 events and awareness campaign surrounding the cause.
Representatives of Ataxia Ireland attended a cheque presentation last Saturday night at the home of Helium, Skelly’s Bar and Restaurant in Ballymahon.
Helium 2012 saw a bill of over 35 artists perform in the Ballymahon venue including Ash, Delorentos, Duke Special, The Kanyu Tree, Jape, and in an Irish debut, Nathan Flutebox Lee and The Clinic. Alongside the volunteer-led music festival, a community 5/10k fun run was organised by the Ballymahon Traders Association. Proceeds from the two events combined amounted to a total of €8,000 which was presented on the night.
In addition, a cheque for more than €600 was presented to Ataxia Ireland by members of the Bog Lane Theatre Group – proceeds from the first night of their resoundingly successful production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps.
As if that wasn’t enough, a further €650 was raised on Saturday night itself, as a coveted framed Helium 2012 t-shirt, signed by every single act from this year’s line-up, was raffled and then generously offered for auction by the winner. This figure also includes donations from funds raised by Saffron Rough Health Beauty Fitness through a special charity facial promotion offered this summer.
The presentation night has traditionally been a celebration of the volunteers behind Helium for all of their hard work, and this year was even more special with a double award win at last week’s Carlton Best of Irish Festival Marketing Awards to add to the occasion. Helium was selected by a panel of judges at the annual AOIFE (Association of Irish Festival and Events ) conference to win in the Best Festival Website category as well as the Best Festival Photograph. The winning snap was taken by festival attendee Natalie Walsh and selected from those tagged on the Helium Fundraiser Facebook profile. The dual win follows last year’s achievement where Helium won the award for Best Social Media and Online Networking Campaign.
The presentation of the cheque rounds off a fantastic year for a fantastic town, where all of the hard work that’s being done by traders, community groups, and volunteers is paying dividends to this good cause and to the community in general.
The Helium committee of volunteers would like to thank the people of Ballymahon for embracing the festival so wholeheartedly again this year. It was another wonderful weekend for the town, and the sense of community spirit and fun was evident for all to see throughout the area for all ages.
