'Death of my friend sparked £500,000 cancer research fundraising'
dailyrecord.co.ukAn Ayrshire mum has told how a charity organisation she started after losing a friend to cancer has raised half a million to fund research - whilst having a ball.Lorna Dempsey has watched her Butterfly Events idea spread it's wings and reach the £500,000 milestone after 17 years of planned events, including balls, Zumbathons, and party events.
The charity organisation, started by Lorna in 2007, has thrown glitzy bashes all across the region from plush hotels to iconic venues.Every penny raised has gone direct to Cancer Research UK – with the funds helping labs in Scotland develop new treatments to tackle the disease.Dalmellington mum-of-one, Lorna, 45, started Butterfly Events in 2006 after losing a close pal to breast cancer, who sadly passed away in her 30s.Flash forward to 2023 and the production manager at Ayr weaving firm, Alex Begg, is still organising several huge events each year – all to help beat cancer.And on Sunday, October 8, they held a huge celebration of reaching that goal, with an all-ladies Butterfly Bazar event at Ayr Racecourse.A delighted Lorna told Ayrshire Live: “I lost one of my friends to breast cancer, she was only 32.“In 2005 I organised a small tiny event in Dalmellington and raised £200 which I thought was great.“But it spurred me on to do something else.
Then we held the first Butterfly Ball at Ayr Racecourse – it had 450 people at it and we raised £15,000.“Now we’re sitting at £500,000 in total raised over 17 years, it is absolutely fantastic.“We’ve supported Cancer Research the whole time.
You can visibly see the difference the money is making.“The charity strap line from 'together we will beat cancer' to 'together we are beating cancer' – that is special for me and for my team to be
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