Laois estate's family fun day raises €45,000 for charities

An open day at a tech billionaire's country estate in Laois has raised €45,000 for charities.

The Abbey Leix House estate, bought last year by Stripe co-founder John Collison, has retained the tradition by the previous owner Sir David Davies of opening it up to the public for one day a year.

On June 25, families bought tickets and poured in to the well organised event, where they enjoyed children's train rides, airplane displays, food and craft stalls, circus performers, llama petting and walking around the house's exquisitely maintained gardens.

The organisers have confirmed that three charities, two of them from Abbeyleix, have directly benefited. 

"It was very important to us that every penny raised would go to the benefit of local charities and we're delighted to let you know that through your incredible generosity, €15,000 has been raised for each of our three nominated charities. Your support to us and to the local charities has helped them so much. We look forward to welcoming you to the farm again," they said.

Aubrey Hutchinson from Abbeyleix and District Lions Club welcomed the donation. 

"The funds we receive will benefit local families from whom we occasionally get requests if they are in financial difficulty and generally need a helping hand. To facilitate and especially around Christmas, we provide Food and Fuel vouchers or we might help families with funeral expenses and back to school costs. In the past, through our members' local knowledge, it was possible to contribute to a number of people who would never have made an application to us. These are the people that might slip through the net & maybe elderly or simply isolated. With this generous donation, it will now allow us to be more diligent in this respect. Hampers at Christmas time to people in this category are so popular & much appreciated, which can amount up to 50 - 60 Families/Individuals," he said..

My Lovely Horse Rescue (seen below on the day) is also a beneficiary.

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"John Drum from Blackwater Veterinary Clinic is owed €43,000 so €5,000 is going to straight to him. And €10,000 is going on a deposit for a new tractor. We have had to retire old Peter and the second-hand tractor we are looking at is approx. €30k. It's just so great to have the money to hold it for us," said Martina Kenny, Founder.

St. Lazarians Conference of St Vincent de Paul in Abbeyleix is the third beneficiary.

"The financial support from the Abbeyleix House Fun day ensures that St. Lazerians SVP Conference can cope with the requests for help of Food, Fuel & education due to the highly inflated prices that so many individuals & families in our community will face this coming winter," said Shirley Cahill, President.