Brown Thomas Gifting Bear donation for Children’s Grief Centre

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Jun 14

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear donation for Children’s Grief Centre

by richanthon in News 0 comments 1662

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear donation for Children’s Grief Centre

Sr Helen Culhane, Limerick Person of the Year 2017, founded the Children’s Grief Centre in 2009 and it has been providing support services for school-aged children and young people affected by loss through death, separation, and divorce in Mid-West Region. The Children’s Grief Centre sees around 300 children every week, aged 4 to 18 years. 70 per cent of the children who attend has separated parents while 30 per cent has suffered bereavement. The services provided allow children to express themselves through play, art, and offering a listening ear in a safe, and non-judgmental setting.

Brown Thomas chose the Children’s Grief Centre as their chosen charity for 2019. As part of this, the Children’s Grief Centre is to receive raised funds from staff fundraisers throughout the year including the Christmas gift wrapping in December.

Last weekend, the children of the Brown Thomas Limerick team were asked to donate a teddy bear that they no longer need, as part of the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear campaign. The teddy bears were placed in the department stores famous window front and eventually will be donated to children who attend the Children’s Grief Centre. From Friday, June 14 until Sunday, June 16 as part of the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear campaign, the staff of Brown Thomas held a bucket collection outside the store and all funds raised will go to both the Children’s Grief Centre and also St Vincent De Paul Limerick.

The campaign raised €2,500 altogether over the two days, which will be donated equally between the two charities.

Suzie O’Kelly, a counter manager in Brown Thomas, spoke about how their charity committee came up with the idea of the Gifting Bear.

Suzie said, “We devoted one of Limerick’s most famous windows for the weekend and asked the children of the Brown Thomas Limerick team to donate a teddy they no longer need. After the weekend, the teddy bears will then be handed over to the Children’s Grief Centre, to those who may be in need of a hug. On behalf of Brown Thomas’ charity committee, we are so proud to support the Children’s Grief Centre.”

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear

Louise Cooney, social influencer, also attended the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear event over the weekend.

Brown Thomas’ donation of teddy bears and bucket collection is timed well, as also on that day, Friday, June 14, the Children’s Grief Centre celebrated its tenth anniversary with their ‘Children and Loss Conference 2019’ at the Millennium Theatre at the Limerick Institute of Technology.

At the conference, the centre called on the government to fully fund its services as it has seen demand triple.

Sr. Helen Culhane, Founder of the Children’s Grief Centre, speaking at the conference to mark their 10th anniversary said, “We see the work we do as very important as we are supporting children who are impacted by loss due to bereavement, separation and divorce. The centre is unique in that it is volunteer-led and to-date we have seen over 1,300 children, two-thirds of which are referrals due to loss by separation or divorce. The remaining one third is referrals due to loss by the death of a family member or close friend for the most part. The conference will help raise awareness around bereavement and loss and the resultant emotional turmoil experienced by children. We are delighted to be celebrating our tenth anniversary since the centre’s foundation but we are running at full capacity and need a new building to meet the overwhelming demand from families of bereft children. We are lobbying the Government to help it build a larger, €4 million centre to cope with the extra demand. The annual estimated cost of running the service is approximately €150,000.”

For more information on the Children’s Grief Centre, go here.

For more news stories, go here.

Mar 26

Cliona’s Foundation receives Mayoral Reception for helping Irish families

by richanthon in Charity, News 0 comments 1663

Mayoral Reception for Cliona’s Foundation – Pictured are Alan McGrath, Terry Ring, co-founder Clionas Foundation, Daniel Butler, Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Limerick, Fionn O’Hehir, Jimmy Crowe and Brendan Ring, co-founder Clionas Foundation. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

 

Cliona’s Foundation receives Mayoral Reception for helping Irish families

By I Love Limerick correspondent Conor Owens

Limerick City Hall hosted a Mayoral Reception on Tuesday for the Cliona’s Foundation in order to acknowledge their incredible work in supporting families of children with life-limiting illness, as well as present awards to Fionn O’Hehir, Alan McGrath and Jimmy Crowe for their amazing courage while caring for a very sick brother or sister.  

Speaking at the reception was Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Limerick, Daniel Butler, who presented the awards to each of the three youngsters, as a way of recognizing their incredible selflessness in caring for their siblings. Also speaking at the event were the founders of Cliona’s Foundation, Brendan and Terry Ring, who thanked the Limerick County Council for the reception and their support to the charity.  

Family and friends of Adam McGrath, Jimmy Crowe and Fionn O’Hehir attended the event to show their support to the three brave young boys who showed tremendous love to their sick family members and went above and beyond in supporting them despite their young age. The boys were each awarded certificates by the Mayor as a way of congratulating them on behalf of the County Council.

The reception aimed to raise awareness of the incredible work being done by the Limerick charity, Cliona’s Foundation. The Foundation is the only charity in Ireland providing financial support to the families of children with a life-limiting condition all over the country from birth up to the age of 16 years of age to help with the nonmedical costs of caring for their child. These costs can include accommodation, car parking, travel, child-care, and specialist equipment.  They have supported over 530 families over the past 11 years. The incredible growth of the charity over the years has surprised even its founders. “It just goes to show the real need for this Foundation,” says Terry Ring. 

Mayoral Reception for Cliona's Foundation

Terry Ring, co-founder, Mayor Daniel Butler and Brendan Ring, co-founder at the Mayoral Reception for the Cliona’s Foundation. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

The Foundation was set up by Brendan and Terry Ring, following the death of their daughter Cliona, from an inoperable brain tumour in 2006. Brendan and Terry were shocked by the expenses needed to care for a seriously ill child and were struck by the number of families that were also facing this enormous financial hardship as they were blindsided by non-medical expenses. They set up the charity to help relieve these families of the stress of these costs. These costs can include accommodation, food, petrol and other miscellaneous expenses incurred by families who must take sick children to hospitals or other medical facilities for frequent treatments. “The financial strain to the families in these situations is what people often overlook,” says Brendan, “so it’s great for Limerick city to know the work that we do.” 

Since its inception, Cliona’s Foundation has raised over €1 million and helped more than 550 families across 29 counties. It is Brendan and Terry’s intimate understanding of the stress brought upon these families that explains the diversity of expenses covered by Cliona’s Foundation – from rent, food, utility bills to transportation for chemotherapy or alternative therapies, to a treat for a sibling and even covering the cost of a child’s funeral.  

For more stories featuring the Cliona’s Foundation, click here  

For more information on the Cliona’s Foundation, click here

Feb 06

Limerick Chronicle Column 6 February 2018

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Limerick Chronicle ILovelimerick Column 06-02-2018 pg1

 

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Jan 19

Limerick Chronicle Column 16 January 2018

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Limerick Chronicle I Love Limerick Tuesday 16th of January 2018 pg 31

 

 

Oct 11

Limerick Chronicle Column 10 October 2017

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May 09

Limerick Chronicle Column 09 May 2017

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Apr 27

Design dreams at Novas DIAL House for young Care Leavers with DFS, Gaisce and Roisin Lafferty

by richanthon in News 0 comments 3226

Pictured at the announcement of the DFS Makeover for DIAL House in Limerick were Robert O Leary, Carragh Fisherson, Una Burns, Novas, Richard Lynch, Susan Murphy, Roisin Lafferty, DFS Ambassador and Gaisce winner 16-year-old Will O Callaghan, a 4th-year student from And Scoil Ris. Photo: Oisin McHugh True Media.

 

DIAL House

Pictured at the announcement of the DFS Makeover for DIAL House in Limerick were Una Burns, Novas, Roisin Lafferty, DFS Ambassador and Gaisce winner, 16-year-old Will O Callaghan, a 4th-year student from Ard Scoil Ris. Photo: Oisin McHugh True Media.

DIAL House is a life-changing service, which celebrates 10 years of existence this year and is run by Novas, the largest provider of homeless services in the Mid-West region. An extraordinary six-bed residential facility, it accommodates care leavers who are at risk of homelessness. Residents are all aged between 18 and 25. Most of the estimated 100 plus young people who have passed through its doors in the past ten years have not been given the easiest start in life. The service was set up to “mirror a home environment and not an institution” after identifying an urgent need in Limerick to develop a specialised service for young care leavers.

To mark its first anniversary of successful trading in Limerick, DFS, the sofa retailer, is working with its charity partner Gaisce and its Brand Ambassador, award winning Interiors expert Roisin Lafferty, to give DIAL House residential home a new look to really mirror a family home environment. Roisin recently hosted a hugely successful event in the DFS Store in Limerick supporting the work of Novas where €1096 was raised.

“I feel very passionately that where you live really impacts on your mood and how you feel, so I’m really excited about this makeover project. Novas Limerick offers an invaluable service to the community of Limerick. Homelessness is a cause very close to my heart and I am honoured to be able to aid such an important charity and to work with the young people here who live at DIAL House, Will O’Callaghan, a talented young designer and Gaisce Awardee, DFS and my team at Kingston Lafferty Design to make this house somewhere even more special.” Roisin said.

DFS is a Gold Charity Partner with Gaisce, the President’s Award enabling hundreds of young people to benefit from the life-changing Gaisce experience.  

DIAL House

Pictured at the announcement of the DFS Makeover for DIAL House in Limerick were Susan Murphy, Roisin Lafferty and Carragh Fisherson discussing ideas for the makeover. Photo: Oisin McHugh True Media.

Will O’Callaghan, a 4th-year student from Ard Scoil Ris said, “I am seriously considering a career in Architecture or Interior design and am excited at this opportunity to work with the very successful Roisin Lafferty in remodelling DIAL House.”
Novas is thrilled to be associated with this event with Communications Manager Una Burns stating that: “We try to provide homes for families and single people every day. We are extremely grateful to DFS and to Roisin Lafferty for decorating our DIAL House service in the city.”

To read about the DFS Novas Fundraiser with Roisin Lafferty click here

For more information on DIAL House click here

Apr 27

VIDEO DFS Novas Fundraiser with Roisin Lafferty is a success!

by richanthon in News 0 comments 2917

Pictured was Richard Lynch, ILoveLimerick.com, Luke Culhane, Micheal Goulding, CEO of Novas and Roisin Lafferty, Director of Kingston Lafferty design at the DFS design evening. Photo: Oisin McHugh

Over 100 people turned out in style for the DFS design evening in the Limerick store last night on Thursday the 23rd.

Roisin Lafferty

Pictured was Roisin Lafferty, Director of Kingston Lafferty design speaking to people who had turned out for the DFS design evening. Photo: Oisin McHugh

Attendees were treated to a lively presentation packed with design tips and secrets from DFS Ambassador and award-winning interiors expert Roisin Lafferty, Director of Kingston Lafferty design. Many guests availed of the opportunity after the presentation for one on one style advice from Roisin and her team.

Roisin has previously expressed her happiness at the choice to support Novas through this one of a kind event, “Novas Limerick offers an invaluable service to the community of Limerick. Homelessness is a cause very close to my heart and I am honoured to be able to aid such an important charity. This event shows the importance of a happy home for everybody.”

Guests also enjoyed canapés and drinks, including Wild Orchard juices, from Hook and Ladder, a complimentary copy of Image Interiors and Living magazine and 10% off everything in-store.

The evening was run in association with local charity Novas, who are the largest provider of homeless services in the mid-west region. It was a huge success with €1094 raised for the charity. 

Roisin Lafferty

Pictured, from left, was Moya Farrell, Beckey Russell and Roisin Lafferty, Director of Kingston Lafferty design speaking to people who had turned out for the DFS design evening. Photo: Oisin McHugh

Deborah Geraghty of Caherdavin won a sofa and Louise Creamer an Interior Design Consultation with Create at Kingston Lafferty design. Limerick people are already looking to the next DFS event.

Novas is thrilled to be associated with this event with Communications Manager Una Burns stating that, “we try to provide homes for families and single people every day and an event like this highlights the importance of a happy home for everybody. We are extremely grateful to DFS and to Roisin Lafferty for hosting this lovely evening and for decorating our DIAL service in the city.”

Novas are a local non-profit organisation working with single adults, families and children who are disadvantaged and socially excluded, primarily homeless people or people at risk of being homeless. More than half of these were from Limerick. The organisation provides a range of services in the city including temporary accommodation, a family service, an out-of-hours service, long-term housing and a street outreach.

To read more stories about Novas click here

For more information on charity events in Limerick click here

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