Sarah Connolly is taking on the task of travelling from Enniskillen to Maghera by tractor
A STUDENT is preparing to spread some festive charity cheer by driving a vintage tractor all the way from Fermanagh to Co Derry.
Sarah Connolly is taking on the task to raise funds to deliver aid to Romanian orphanages and care homes.
The 17-year-old was born in and spent her early years in Enniskillen but now lives in Ballinascreen in south Derry with her parents Gary and Joanne, sister Hannah (19) and brother Jack (18).
A pupil at St Patrick’s College, Maghera, each year a group of students travel to Romania to deliver aid to orphanages and care homes. The school has worked hard over many years to provide meaningful assistance while providing the students with experience of helping others less fortunate than themselves.
Sarah and her fellow students have worked collectively and individually to raise as much money as possible through all kinds of fundraising events including quiz nights, coffee mornings and discos. Sarah’s more novel approach is to drive her father’s vintage tractor from the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen to her school, a distance of almost 60 miles. That’s a long way to go on a tractor with no cab and a top speed of 12 mph! She has set up a Just Giving page ‘Sarah’s Tractor Drive’ for donations.
Sarah told the Herald: “It should take around six hours but I’ll have a back up team of family and friends in cars behind and in front of me. Hopefully when I get to the school, there’ll be people waiting for me too! I have driven tractors before so it’s nothing new and hopefully the roads will be a bit quieter over the Christmas period.”
Sarah will be among 20 students travelling out to Romania on January 20th to hand over the proceeds of their fundraising efforts.
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