Slieve Croob Community First Responders

28/09/2025

We were privileged to have been nominated by Newry Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC) to attend the 2025 Garden Party at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. The invitations to attend the Garden Party which took place on Wednesday 10th September was received by our Chair Loretta Gribben and Guest from Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The reputable event which was co-hosted by the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and was attended by The Princess Royal, Princess Anne offered our organisation the opportunity to showcase the voluntary work we do across our community. Additionally, it afforded us the opportunity to mingle with other guests to celebrate community efforts.
A number of our volunteers expressed interest in attending the event and a draw resulted in Mrs Dorothy Doherty joining Loretta to represent us there. Dorothy and Loretta thoroughly enjoyed the prestigious event that recognises public service.
It was a great honour to be invited to the Garden Party in recognition of the contribution our volunteers make by responding to life threatening situations across our community. Thank you to Newry, Mourne and Down District Council for the nomination. Dorothy and Loretta spent a special day representing and celebrating SCCFR while enjoying a delicious afternoon tea in beautiful surroundings of the castle gardens.

21/09/2025

Thanks to all at Drumaroad Bowling Club for choosing SCCFR as the beneficiary charity for this event and thanks to all who contributed towards this very generous donation 🙏

07/09/2025

We were delighted to meet up again with members of the Mourne Motorcycle Club Ltd to be presented with an amazing cheque donation of £1500 following their renowned superb annual event which is always enjoyed by many spectators from near and far. Thanks to all the club members for your efforts in organising this event and enabling it to continue being such a success and also for selecting SCCFR as a beneficiary charity following this years massive fundraising effort all in support of local causes. Also many thanks to everyone who contributed to the collection on the evening.

Please see the press release which is also available in local newspapers

“Charity wins”

THE Mourne Motorcycle Club held their latest charity motocross event on Wednesday, June 18, raising funds for the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team (MMRT) and Slieve Croob Community First Responders (SCCFR).

Once again the members of the Mourne club have continued their successful charity work, raising £3,000 to be split between the two charities.

The event was first held at the Millbrook Lodge, Ballynahinch, before moving to Millbridge, Ballynahinch and this year the venue changed again when it was moved to Seaforde MotoParc.

Speaking after the money raised had been announced, Mourne Motorcycle Club Chairman, Billy McLarnin said: “There are so many wonderful local charities helping in the local community and they are all deserving of funds.

“Every year we feel that we have made the right choice, when we are choosing charities to raise funds for and we are delighted to be presenting the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team and the Slieve Croob Community First Responders each with £1,500.

“Despite the change of venue to hold the event we have still seen a brilliant response from spectators and riders, helping us to raise this money for two worthy causes,” he said.

The first event was held in 2007 and in 15 years of running the event the Mourne club has now raised almost £100,000 for 29 charitable causes that are helping in the local community.

Loretta Gribben SCCFR Chair, emphasised the crucial role the Mourne Motor Cycle Club played through their fundraising in maintaining and sustaining SCCFR charity: “SCCFR are so grateful to the Mourne Motorcycle Club for the very generous donation of £1,500.

“This kind donation will make a significant difference to others who are facing life threatening situations,” she said.



Picture below (l-r): Andrew Shields, Junior Burrows, Jamie Harvey, Paul Gray, Loretta Gribben (SCCFR Chair), Jimmy Walker, Billy McLarnin (MMC Chairman), Anne Mackin and Jenna O'Hare.

31/08/2025

We would like to thank the O’Hare and Lennon families who recently organised a sponsored walk in memory of Sarah Lennon.

This is an annual fundraising event with proceeds donated to local charities and SCCFR received an amazing amount of £500 from this years event which was held at the beginning of July.

We are very grateful for this donation which we will use to continue training and equipping our CFRs for the benefit of all within our community.

Thanks again to all involved in organising this event in memory of Sarah, to everyone who took part in the walk and to all who donated towards this fundraiser.

Pictured below are Sarah’s mother Margaret with Sarah’s sister Bridget presenting a cheque to Fiona McCrickard (SCCFR Treasurer) along with Reza Shahmohammadi (SCCFR Deputy Coordinator/Procurement Officer & CFR)

20/06/2025

A massive thanks to all at Knockevin Special School PSA in this amazing amount collected at a fundraising event over the weekend of the 7th & 8th June.
We will use this money to continue to train and equip our CFR volunteers. Your help to us through this fundraising event enables us to continue helping others within our community who use our service.
Thanks again to all involved in organising this event and to everyone who contributed towards this fantastic total 🙏✨

08/06/2025

13/05/2025

A massive thanks to all at McQuillan Companies for inviting some of our volunteer CFRs to their office where we were presented with a very generous donation for our charity.
Thanks again for your kindness in helping us with our fundraising so that we can continue to help others in our community 🙏

Supporting Local Heroes
We were proud to recently make a donation to Slieve Croob Community First Responders, a volunteer-led organisation providing life-saving assistance across rural communities in Co. Down.
Slieve Croob CFRS work in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service to respond to 999 calls, offering critical care in the vital minutes before an ambulance arrives. Every member is trained in CPR and defibrillation, helping to make a real difference when it matters most.
A huge thank you to this incredible team of volunteers for their dedication and compassion. It was a pleasure to meet with them this week and present our cheque in support of their vital work.

20/03/2025

Invitation to Slieve Croob Community First Responders (SCCFR) 3rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 10th April 2025 in DRUMLEE CHURCH HALL, 21 Drumlee Rd, Ballyward, BT31 9RS at 20.00hrs (Members only)

13/03/2025

Peter Morgan's Cottage CPR AED awareness session 11.03.25 delivered by SCCFR to members of the community.
A Community Defib now available at Peter Morgan’s Cottage which has also been registered on NIAS circuit.

19/01/2025

We were delighted to meet with committee members of Newcastle Athletic Club to be presented with an amazing donation of £2000

Newcastle AC selected SCCFR as their beneficiary charity for the proceeds of the famous ‘Castlewellan Christmas Cracker Run’ organised by the club annually

We also received a further £230.54 from a bucket collection which the participants of the run donated during registration for the event on Sat 28th Dec 2024

Thanks to the committee for choosing SCCFR for their nominated charity for 2024. Also many thanks to all the runners for your donations

These donations will be used to enable us to continue providing our life-saving service for the benefit of everyone living in our community.

Pictured below at the cheque presentation is (l-r)
Stephen Magorrian (SCCFF), Kerry O’Flaherty (Newcastle AC), Zak Hanna (Newcastle AC), Deon McNeilly (Chairperson Newcastle AC), Loretta Gribben (Chairperson SCCFR), Simon Parke (SCCFR) & Joe McCann (Newcastle AC)

Also pictured below are our volunteer members who were at the event cheering on the runners 🏃‍♂️ 🏃🏼‍♀️

Thanks again and continued success in many more years of organising this fantastic event 🙏

16/01/2025

We recently held a meeting with both the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland.

This was a great opportunity for our representatives to discuss the advantages of having local Community First Responder schemes and also to discuss some of the challenges which we and other CFR schemes across Northern Ireland currently face.

We would like to thank both the Minister of Health and the CMO for taking the timeout from their busy schedules to come and meet with us. Also many thanks to Lloyd Douglas: Mourne UUP for enabling this meeting to take place.

We hope that some positive changes can happen on the back of this meeting for the benefit of all CFR schemes and for all those living within the communities where we serve.




Pictured Below (l-r); Prof Sir Michael McBride (Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland), Lloyd Douglas (Mourne UUP Representative), James Gribben (SCCFR Coordinator), Mike Nesbitt (Minister of Health), Reza Shahmohammadi (SCCFR Deputy Coordinator) and Jill Douglas (SCCFR CFR)

12/01/2025

We recently met up with Tanya Hughes at MACE Rathfriland where we were presented with £200 following their Christmas Raffle. Thank you to all involved within the shop for organising this raffle and also to all their customers who took part. 🙏 Pictured below is Tanya along with Harry presenting the cheque to Patricia Quinn SCCFR Ass.Treasurer