[A] staggering £6,700 was raised to help people with cancer during the 10th anniversary celebrations of AlannaFest – and donations are still pouring in!
For the past ten years AlannaFest has celebrated the life of young mum Alanna Duffy from Morecambe who had leukaemia.
The event has also raised thousands of pounds for CancerCare North Lancashire and South Cumbria.
This year’s AlannaFest was the biggest yet, with more than 4,000 people passing through the gates at Heysham Cricket Club in Heysham Village on Sunday, May 27.
Alanna’s mum, Stella Duffy from Morecambe, said: “The attendance was amazing – there was a fantastic atmosphere.
“It just seems to get bigger and bigger. I thought, where have all these people come from?
“The whole reason for doing AlannaFest is to give something back to the people who helped Alanna and our family.
“Every bit of money for CancerCare helps. We love doing it. It’s so good doing something in memory of Alanna. It makes me feel fantastic.
“Alanna would have loved it because she was into music and dancing. She’d have loved seeing her face everywhere. It felt as if she was with us on Sunday.
“We’ll definitely be doing it again next year. We want to raise at least £7,000 next time!”
The top raffle prize this year was a Fiat Punto Active Sport kindly donated by Scott Mackenzie of SM Cars of White Lund. The lucky winner of the car was Dawn Holt from Morecambe.
AlannaFest featured live music from Asylum, The Cahoots, Rubber Giraffe, Andy Creevy, Robert George Fox, Kelsie McCardle and Carlie Mai.
Stella said DJ Trevor Cooke did a great job of compering the event and there was also a huge variety of stalls, a new elevated stage, catering stalls, beer marquees, a prosecco bar, a big bounce slide, bouncy castle, face painting, inflatable pillow fights, a massive raffle, tombola, Dobson’s Sweetie Emporium and much more.
The Lord Nelson pub in Morecambe made a kind donation of £250 towards the festival.
Helen Hartin, a community fundraiser from CancerCare, said: “AlannaFest was fantastic.
“It was lovely to see so many people out enjoying themselves and supporting such a good cause.
“We like to say a massive thank you to Stella, her daughter Katie and everyone who helped and supported AlannaFest.”
Alanna, a former pupil of Our Lady’s Catholic College in Lancaster, was just 26 years old when she passed away. Over the last 10 years Stella, Katie, Alanna’s children Georgie Shepherd, 17, and Liam Mayor, 14, as well as her friends and colleagues have continued to celebrate her life and raise money for CancerCare.
Stella, who works at the Wacky Warehouse in Morecambe, added: “I’d like to thank all of the people and businesses who donated prizes, gave money, performed, volunteered and helped on the day. It wouldn’t have happened without them.”
For more information on AlannaFest, contact Stella at [email protected]
