Family touched by community support

Kenny McKinstry (Susan's dad), Cllr Paul Greenfield, Ellie Nicholl, Susan Nicholl, Lord Mayor Margaret Tinsley, Eric Nicholl (Andy's dad), Russell Anderson and Cllr Ian Wilson.

The much-loved dad-of-two, from the Mullabrack Road, sadly passed away on May 28 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Last Saturday, the village came to a standstill for the Andy Nicholl Memorial Truck and Tractor Run, organised by Scarva Primary School Parents & Friends Association.

The event was an incredible success and, to date, over £30,000 has been raised for the Cancer Fund for Children and Scarva Primary School.

For the Nicholl family, it was a day filled with emotion and pride as they remembered “fun, generous and mischievous” Andy.

His grieving wife Susan told the Chronicle: “Andy’s life was cut short six months ago at the age of 45, which was a massive shock to our family.

“For anyone who didn’t know Andy, he would get to know you… he would greet you with a ‘How you doing there boy’ or ‘Well girl’.

“There’s a saying mainly used for raising children, in that it takes a village… but this could not be more apt for Saturday and the past six months.

“The village of Scarva, town of Banbridge, and even further afield, have held us up and kept us going - and it is that community around us that made the day possible.

“I think Andy would be very proud of the village he was raised in, the friends he was surrounded by, and the family that loved him, for what they were able to put together on Saturday in his memory.”

The aim of the event was to show support for the Nicholl and McKinstry families and to pay tribute to Andy. And, the community came out in force to do just that.

A spokesperson for the organisers said: “On behalf of Scarva Primary School Parents & Friends’ Association, we want to send out a huge general ‘thank you’ to everyone who was involved in any way.

“Be that by sending raffle and auction prizes, donating equipment for the event, helping on the day and, of course, by participating in the run.

“We would like to single out just a few. Thanks to the Scarva & District Culture Society for the use of the fabulous new community hall and grounds.

“The Buller and Baird families for the use of the grounds to park the vehicles.

“Ian Donald, the auctioneer on the day, helped us to raise a fantastic £3,690 from 12 items.

Posters and stickers for the event kindly donated by ID graphics.

“The organising team would like to stress that Susan, Andy’s wife, was amazing throughout the planning and running of the day, under what must have been such difficult circumstances for her.”

Poignantly, Andy’s father Eric Nicholl led the run in a lorry, with Susan and her daughter Ellie accompanying him.

They were followed by 98 other lorries and 23 mixed types of vehicles, including classic cars, camper vans and rally cars.

Then, Kenny McKinstry, Andy’s father-in-law, headed up a procession of 80 tractors with his grandson Will.

The route passed by the Nicholl family lorry yard and Andy’s family home.

On returning into Scarva village, Eric was led by Eamonn McAleenan in his vintage steam traction engine back to the community hall premises.

To top it off, there was a ‘fly-by’ from a local in his light aircraft to salute the run.

The spokesperson added: “Getting over 200 vehicles round an eight-mile country run without incident was only possible thanks to the fantastic group of 15 marshals made up of locals from the village who were friends of Andy.

“In addition to the run itself we were delighted to be able to entertain all in attendance with bouncy castles provided by Brian from Castle Kings, face painting, nail painting, glitter tattoos, toy tombola, kids’ raffle and tuck shop (donated by The Park Inn, Scarva).

“Music was provided by local DJ Stephen Lowry and fantastic singer Stevie Harte from Banbridge on a fabulous stage from AlphaBella Tyres.

“We were delighted to have Gary McKinstry recording the event on his drone, giving us all some great footage from the air.

“We were happy to provide burgers, hot dogs, soup, tea, coffee and tray bakes all dished out by the fabulous school parents and cooked by Alex Hammond, a chef and friend of Andy’s. Items were donated by Vanilla Black catering, Dale Farm and The Milestone.

“We hope everyone who attended enjoyed the day as much as we did.

“We are delighted to announce that our current total stands at £30,000 - with some money still being donated.

“We know how much this money will benefit both Scarva Primary School and the Cancer Fund for Children.”