THE people of Cloughleigh have come together to raise an impressive €3,000 for the Irish Red Cross’ work in Ukraine through the hosting of a number of events.
A fundraising tea party, raffle and contribution from the local benevolent fund all played their part in raising the money which was recently presented to Aiden Lonergan of the Irish Red Cross.
Flan Brennan, chairman of the Cloughleigh Residents Association explains that when news began to emerge of the war in Ukraine and they saw what was happening they were driven to try and help in some way.
“At the beginning of this we were starting to hear on the news about the troubles in Ukraine and we felt we had to do something as a community. We wanted to give them a bit of support so we thought a fundraiser for the Irish Red Cross, who are doing great work, would be a good idea.”
The fundraisers involved a number of community groups which are active in Cloughleigh. The tea party was held at the Cloughleigh Community Centre and was organised by the Cloughleigh Drama Group. Guest at the event was Natalija Kasinskiene from Ukraine, now working in Ennis, who spoke to those gathered about her home country.
“That went very well and we had a great crowd who were very supportive. Some of the local ladies made cakes and there were items donated from shop, it got great support from people and we are delighted. We were also very happy to have Natalija from Ukraine come and speak.” The tea party alone raised €1,000.
Meanwhile a further €1,000 was donated through a community raffle with prizes supported by local business man, Laurence O’Brien.
Cloughleigh Residents Association also contributed a donation of €1,000 from their Benevolent Fund which has been set up to offer support to members of the community in times of need.
“All of the fundraisers received a fantastic response and we’re just delighted. We know that these are struggling times financially for so many people, but to see how the community came together and showed their solidarity with the people of Ukraine has been just amazing. People were very good and very generous.”