Portglenone hair salon fundraising triumph for charity that supports children with sight loss

The pair raised an incredible £2,557 for the charity by holding a bumper raffle at the grand opening of new premises for the family business, Options Hair Salon in Portglenone, on December 3 last.

More than 18 local donors and businesses supported the fundraiser with the amount raised surpassing anything Eimear and Donna could have imagined.

Eimear and Donna were moved to raise funds for RNIB after their two families received support from RNIB’s Children, Young People and Families service following the news that both their daughters, Aida and Kieva now aged one, had been born with different eye conditions resulting in visual impairment.

Donna McCoy, mum of one year old Kieva, said: “We both just can’t believe it and at the start we predicted we might raise one or maybe two hundred but it just kept going. We’d like to thank everyone for their generosity whether donating prizes or money.

"Options Hair Salon is owned by my mother and in June this year will have been looking after Portglenone hair styles for 40 years. It so happened that we were opening new premises so thought that would be a wonderful opportunity to fundraise for RNIB as well.

"Even though Kieva doesn’t have full sight in her left eye, it doesn’t hold her back. she’s just like any other one year old running around the place. She loves the monthly sensory morning event in Ballymoney and that’s where we met Marcella from RNIB.

"We’ve discovered a whole community there. Families just like ourselves and there’s so much to get involved in if you want to.”

Eimear McGilligan, mum of one year old Aida, said: “We were completely blown away by the amount of money raised. We know we’re all living through testing times but everyone has just been so generous.

“Aida wears glasses to try and encourage her to use the remaining sight in her effected eye. I suppose like any parent you worry what the future holds for your kids. At the moment both girls are too young to really tell us what it’s like for them but we support them to be their happy independent selves.

“We’ve had a lot of support from RNIB. The girls loved the recent visit to Belfast Zoo along with loads of other families like ours. We particularly enjoyed the Christmas family event at the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast.

“I think we get the most out of meeting and talking with other parents like us who have a child with a visual impairment. Quite a few of us share the same consultant or attend the same clinic at the hospital and that too helps us know that there’s support there. It helps to know that we’re not on our own.”

If you want to find out how you can support people affected by sight loss by fundraising for RNIB in Northern Ireland, visit www.rnib.org.uk/fundraising today.