Stuart set for annual fundraising fast for Christian Aid

Friday April 24th 2026

Canon Stuart Lloyd is preparing to begin his 72-hour fast to raise funds for Christian Aid Week.

The Rev Canon Stuart Lloyd is planning a fifth annual 72-hour fast to raise funds for Christian Aid’s work with vulnerable communities around the world.

Stuart will abstain from all food and drink, allowing himself only water, from 8pm on Wednesday May 13 until 8pm on Saturday May 16 to raise funds for the work of Christian Aid.

Stuart’s fast will be sponsored by the parishioners of St Patrick’s, Broughshane, the church he joined after retiring as rector of Ballymena and Ballyclug where he served for 27 years.

During business hours on each of his three fast days, Canon Lloyd will sit in the mall outside McNeill’s grocery and hardware shops in Broughshane, collecting donations and raising awareness of the work of Christian Aid.

This will be the fifth year that Canon Lloyd has completed a 72-hour fast to mark Christian Aid Week. The previous four fasts have raised a total of almost £10,000.

Christian Aid Week (May 10-16) began in the 1950s and is thought to be the UK and Ireland’s longest-running fundraising campaign. Each year, tens of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland get involved in raising funds to support the charity’s work to reach people living in poverty and crisis across the world.

Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett said: “We are very grateful to Canon Stuart for his incredible self-sacrifice and to everyone at St Patrick’s, Broughshane, and in the wider community who sponsor him each year.

“Around the world, conflict and climate change are driving millions of people into hunger and poverty. But each year during Christian Aid Week, people like Canon Stuart raise the vital funds we need to help affected communities survive and thrive.”

Stuart is no stranger to charity fundraising. In 2021, he completed 50 ascents of Slemish mountain over seven days – equivalent to the height of Mount Everest – raising £15,000 for charitable projects in Nepal.

For more information or to donate, please visit caweek.ie