Balloo Hire, a leading player in the tool, equipment, and plant hire market, recently celebrated raising over £20,000 for local health charity Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS). Balloo Hire began working with the charity in 2018 and since then the partnership has gone from strength to strength. The funds raised through the partnership will go towards supporting the as many as 470,000 people living with a chest, heart or stroke condition in Northern Ireland.
The funds have been raised through a number of initiatives including via donations from the hire of branded machinery. Balloo Hire has a telescopic handler, wrapped in Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke’s branding. Every time this machine is hired, 10% of the fee is donated to the charity and crucially, its brand awareness amongst the public is also supported.
Members of staff at Balloo Hire have also played a vital role in raising funds for NICHS, organising a variety of fundraising challenges and activities in support of the charity. These include taking part in the charity’s Twilight Hearty Hike to the summit of Slieve Binnian, organising Christmas Jolly Jumper days, selling Christmas decorations and air fresheners, and having collections cans in all seven Balloo Hire depots. Individual employees have also taken on challenges in aid of NICHS, like Powered Access Manager, Colin Magee, who raised funds by cycling a 44-mile roundtrip to work every day for five days, from the foothills of Dromara Mountain to Lagan Weir in Belfast. Colin’s fundraising total was kindly matched by Balloo Hire.
The company is not only involved with raising funds, but also actively supports the charity in other ways. Balloo Hire has donated equipment for use at NICHS’s annual flagship fundraising event, the Red Dress Fun Run. Portable toilets, track mats, pedestrian barriers and generators are all provided free of charge, which is an invaluable help to the event. The company also supported the charity in bringing last year’s Heart Month tour to several locations throughout Northern Ireland, helping give local communities the opportunity to access free atrial fibrillation tests and blood pressure checks. Most recently, they provided a 43.15m Articulated Boom lift Z135/70 to assist with essential roof work at NICHS’s head office located on the Dublin Road in Belfast.
Philip Meehan, Marketing Manager and Charity Champion at Balloo Hire, said: "Our team have been proud to work closely with Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke for the last few years. Supporting their life-changing work aligns with Balloo Hire’s commitment to giving back to the community and making a positive impact on people’s lives across Northern Ireland."
Regina Cox, High Value Partnerships Manager, at Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke, said; “We are so grateful for the ongoing support of Balloo Hire over the years. The dedication and effort shown by all the team at Balloo Hire has been phenomenal. To raise over £20,800 for our charity is a tremendous achievement and we would like to thank everyone involved and all those who donated.”
“Today, as many as one in three of the population here could be living with a chest, heart or stroke condition. Almost 90% of our income comes from public donations so partnerships and fundraising efforts like Balloo Hire’s are vital for our charity and what we can achieve.”
“The funds raised by Balloo Hire will enable us to continue to help the local community and provide life-changing services for people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions and their families.”
To find out more about ways to support Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke, as a business or as an individual, visit nichs.org.uk/how-you-can-help
