Cannonball, the action-packed supercar spectacle, has raised €308,000 throughout 2024 for The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. This brings the total figure raised for Irish children’s charities up to €1,946,432.
Cannonball, fuelled by milesPLUS from Circle K, is the largest organised road trip in Europe featuring the finest cars on the planet from the awe-inspiring power of Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren to the grace and elegance of Porsche, Aston Martin, and Maserati.
The event came to Salthill in Galway this year on September 7, where thousands of spectators came out to see the spectacle and were so very generous to the representatives collecting for the Jack and Jill Foundation.
This generosity, when added to all of the other initiatives over the weekend, helped in reaching this outstanding figure of €308,000.
Cannonball blazed a trail around the country from September 6 – 8 this year to the delight of over 250,000 spectators who gathered in their thousands all over the country to witness the world’s most prestigious and sought-after supercars up close.
Families also enjoyed the music and fanfare, giant screens, live DJs, bands and festivals in host towns and a unique free family day out.
200 magnificent supercars, helicopters, celebrities and very colourful Cannonballers in costume all converged on a sunny weekend for another adrenalin fuelled supercar spectacle.
But at the heart of this event is philanthropy and raising much needed funds for worthy causes.
“The figure of €308,000 raised this year for Jack and Jill is very welcome news indeed for all who took part in Cannonball. My very sincere thanks to all of our sponsors, partners, participants, spectators and crew that make up our Cannonball family” said Alan Bannon, Founder of Cannonball
The official charity for Cannonball 2024 was The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation – an Irish children’s charity that funds and provides up to 100 hours per month of in-home nursing care, respite support and end-of-life care for children from birth to six years of age with severe learning disability often associated with complex medical needs.
Deirdre Walsh, CEO of Jack and Jill said, “We are blown away by the funds raised this year through our partnership with Cannonball and Circle K, which translates to 16,998 hours of in-home nursing and respite care for 421 families currently supported by Jack and Jill in communities across the country.”
“Great to see the Cannonball community get behind the fundraising effort, including the teams at Apache Pizza who raised €25k, Autoclass who raised €14k and our MC, Podcaster Alan Clarke whose donation drive raised €13k in 24 hours!”
“It was fantastic to meet so many of our families along the route, who came out to enjoy the spectacle, and we hugely appreciate all the time, effort, creativity and energy from the Cannonball community that ensured Cannonball 2024 was such a resounding success.”
This year in addition to all of the fundraising activities on Cannonball throughout the weekend including the exciting new ‘Cannonball Fundraising Grand Prix’, Cannonball’s fuel sponsor, Circle K Ireland ran a nationwide campaign entitled, ‘When you fill, support Jack and Jill’.
Throughout the weekend of the event, 1 cent from every litre of miles and milesPLUS fuel sold at Circle K was donated to the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation.
Becoming the year’s biggest fundraising initiative for Cannonball and Circle K, it raised €100,000 in critical funds for the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation – the equivalent of 5,555 hours of nursing care for families.
Ciara Foxton, Managing Director of Circle K Ireland commented, ‘We were delighted to bring ‘When You Fill, Support Jack and Jill’ back to sites nationwide last month, after last year’s hugely successful campaign.”
“Partnering with such a popular event like Cannonball generated strong awareness for this year’s initiative, supporting us with raising critical funds for Jack and Jill, a fantastic organisation that makes a big difference to many families in communities nationwide.”
“I would sincerely like to thank Cannonball, colleagues and our customers for supporting the initiative again this year.”
