The Irish Cannonball super car event has been a firm favourite with almost 200,000 spectators around Ireland since it began 12 years ago with a convoy of top mark cars from brands such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Maserati, Rolls Royce and Bentley. In a way it acts as a free family festival traveling all over the country raising much needed awareness for various charities. Cannonball was due to take place this weekend September 11-13th raising vital funds for Barnardos and families in crisis. Alas, the organisers have cancelled the event due to current Covid-19 restrictions.
Cannonball has already raised €1,125,000 for various charities and Barnardos were thrilled to be chosen as the official charity for 2020. The decision to cancel the event in 2020 was the right thing to do for all involved but leaves a huge void in fundraising for Barnardos, who have already missed out on so many fundraising opportunities this year. So, Cannonball have teamed up with Barnardos to try to bridge the gap. There has been a GoFundMe Page set up and an urgent appeal nationwide for donations. Search for ‘Barnardos Urgent Appeal’ on www.GoFundMe.com. Local communities all over the country are already coming together to support the campaign for their own local branches of Barnardos.
Mary Gamble, Barnardos Director of Fundraising said: “Right now, Barnardos needs your help more than ever before. Many of our fundraising activities in 2020 have been cancelled or postponed because of Covid19, but the children and families we work with still need our help. Covid19 has added additional challenges to many of the families we work with who are now struggling to cope. Please give what you can today to ensure we can continue our vital work with vulnerable children, and provide them with a brighter future.”
Alan Bannon, founder of Cannonball said “Cannonball is now the largest organised road trip in Europe and it has grown into something really special. It was absolutely the right decisions but a big disappointment to cancel Cannonball this year but we would love to be able to make a real difference to Barnardos. It would be a small victory against this awful virus to hit fundraising targets even though the brakes have been put on the event for 2020.”
