Coursework leads to fundraiser for suicide awareness charity

The team, who are all on the first year of a Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Business at SERC’s Lisburn Campus, were tasked with planning and managing an event. One of the students, Daragh Suckling, who is 17 and from Moira, wanted to stage an event which would support his sister who is running the Belfast Marathon to fundraise for Lighthouse. He came up with the idea of a tea party and this was enthusiastically taken up by four other students.

One of the team, Isaac Kirk (17) from Hillsborough, identified a possible venue in the Atlas Business Centre, which was offered free of charge. Isaac’s parents, who run a bakery business, supported the venture by supplying goodies for customers, and the group also set up a Just Giving page for donations.

Fellow students Daniel Donaghy, Zach Kane and Jack McReynolds were all active in organising and hosting the event, which ran on 22 March, and the team was thrilled and touched when one visitor became an unscheduled guest speaker, sharing her own experience of suicidal thoughts many years ago and her struggles at a time when little support was available.

Clare Hogarth, from Lighthouse, travelled to SERC Lisburn Campus to receive the money raised and was delighted to be presented with a cheque for more than £900.