Crusaders to benefit from annual craft fairs

CLARE Crafts have joined forces with local organisation Clare Crusaders in a bid to help families of children with special needs and promote the valuable work being done at the Clare Crusaders clinic in Barefield.

As part of Clare Crafts’ annual Christmas craft fairs, Clare Crusaders will be selling Christmas cards, wreaths and other items to raise funds for their ongoing work. Clare Crusaders do not receive any Government funding and rely on fundraising and personal donations.
Ann Moloney of Clare Crafts explained, “We are delighted to be working with Clare Crusaders for this year’s Christmas craft fairs. We are hoping that people will come along and join us at the fairs and support this fantastic local charity.
“We are delighted to be able to help put the spotlight on them and help highlight the fantastic work they do for so many families in Clare. The work they are doing is fantastic and it’s important that it be brought to the forefront. If we can do something in some small way to help, we are delighted.”
She went on, “I was aware of the work of Clare Crusaders through a family member and we discussed at a meeting of Clare Crafts what we could do to assist them. I rang Ann Norton and asked would they be interested in getting involved with the craft fair and she said they’d love to.
“They have lovely Christmas cards and beautiful wreaths. We will all be buying cards and wreaths this Christmas, so why not put the money towards a wonderful local charity and back into the county.”
The Christmas craft fair will once again visit the Temple Gate Hotel on December 3 and 4. Other fairs will be held in Bunratty Castle Hotel on November 20, in the Lakeside Hotel, Killaloe on November 27 and in University Concert Hall, Limerick.
“The Christmas fairs have been going for many years and they are always very special events for us. They’ve been run for up to 20 years now and every year we have some fantastic local crafts, created by people of many different nationalities working and living in Clare.
“The beauty of this fair is over the years we have new people joining up with fresh ideas and new ways of doing things. We are asking the people of Clare to come along and support local crafts. We are all living and working in Clare and in these tough economic times, we need local support.
“There will be a wonderful display of various crafts from around the county. We will have everything, photography, jewellery, wood turning, stained glass, lots of fantastic things. It’s not just crafts, there will also be food producers showcasing lots of yummy things just in time for Christmas,” she said.
She insisted that there will be items for every pocket at the craft fair. “When people hear about crafts they might think it sounds expensive but we have beautiful gifts from €5 to €100. You could easily fill a stocking with well made, beautiful, inexpensive things.”