Tag Archives: fundraising

THE RNLI  Lifeboat fundraising schedule, like that of every other charity, has taken a big hit  over the past six months with little or no income coming in to keep the fleet afloat. Clare has been at the helm in fundraising down the years, and in coming up with new fundraising ideas to involve people in walks, rambles, cruises, concerts and many more events. Over the past six months, the lifeboats have been as busy as ever and have answered every call to save lives and bring people back to their homes and loved ones. The Burren Ramble, which takes place at this time every year, has to be called off as has the Cruise to Galway Bay from Doolin pier. The risk is too high in Clare to put anyone at risk. There are, however, some fundraisers still in the pipeline at present. West Clare man Tony Henchy from Derryard in Doonbeg is doing a 100-day consecutive swim in …

THE future of the Ennis Musical Society is in doubt having suffered “substantial” losses after this year’s highly-anticipated production was shut-down due to Covid-19. However, the society is doing all it can to ensure that the show must go on and have launched an on-line fundraising campaign with a colourful, sing-along video. Ennis Musical Society were due to perform a run of Seussial the Musical last March, however Covid-19 forced the show to be cancelled after just one night. Chairperson Rachel Culligan tells us, “It was really heartbreaking to a lot of us to have put so much into the show and for the wider audience never really have gotten to see it and while we can all take comfort in the knowledge that we did the right thing it has unfortunately left Ennis Musical Society in a very critical position.” She explains that musicals cost tens of thousands of euros to put on, with sets, costumes, light, sound and …

THE passing of the collection basket at mass may have been stopped due to Covid-19, but that hasn’t prevented local parishes from being right on the button when it comes to facilitating donations. Both the Ennis parish and Doora-Barefield parish websites have included a ‘donate’ button in which contributions can be made to the parishes online in a safe and secure way. Fr Jerry Carey of Doora-Barefield parish explains that contributions to the parish are “vital” to the ongoing funding of services. The new online facility has three sections where parishioners can donate an individual amount or choose an ongoing payment option. Donations can be made to Parish Funds for the day to day running of the parish which supplements the weekly basket and development fund collections. There are also Priests’ Collections, funds which go to paying the priest with the surplus going to pastoral care in the Diocese. There are four of these collections annually. While Other Collections sees funds …

EXCITEMENT reached fever pitch on the outskirts of Quin last week when a local wheelchair user completed her 21 kilometre cycle challenge for the Irish Wheelchair Association in Clare. A chequered flag was lowered in triumph as Orla Platten crossed a temporary finishing line to tumultuous cheers and applause from a large crowd of family, friends, neighbours and supporters. Donations keep rolling in to a special GoFundMe page, which had raised €12,300 for the Clare IWA earlier this week. It is expected more donors will contribute to this fundraiser, which has captured the imagination of the public, before it closes at the end of the month. A garda escort provided by Clare Gardaí Denis Collins and Ellis O’Keefee, which was organised by Sergeant Deirdre O’Doherty, added to the great sense of occasion. It was particularly fitting in view of the fact that Orla won a Special Achievement Award at the Garda Youth Divisional Awards last year. People who observed social …

IT’S a long way from Clare to Kildare, and one youngster who certainly knows that is fifth class Ennis National School student Aoife Keane. Aoife has just completed a mammoth cycling challenge taking in the 165km distance between both counties. Amazingly, she cycled the entire length of the route from her garage at home, raising funds for Clare Crusaders and Barretstown. So far she has raised more than €2,000 for the charities and donations can still be made for the next few weeks. While others might be exhausted after the endeavour, the 11-year-old revealed that she celebrated her triumphant end to the cycle by jumping on the family’s trampoline. She laughed, “I hadn’t been allowed on it before the cycle in case I injured myself.” Aoife moved from Naas with her parents Marie and John and younger brother Eoin to their new home of Ennis last year, with the cycle route taking in the distance between her new and old …

A CLARECASTLE family is desperately trying to give their six-year-old son, born with a rare condition, a very special gift. Little Antoni Barczak was essentially born without an outer ear on his right side. He has been diagnosed with right ear microtia, a condition that affects one in every 100,000 newborns. His family is now trying to raise €30,000 to bring him to America for reconstructive surgery, which they believe will help change his life for the better. According to his father, Val, Antoni has started to notice that he is different from the other children in his school. The condition also affects his hearing, with speech sounding like a whisper to him. Antoni and his twin brother, Franek, were born premature in their 31st week. Mother Tania said, “We didn’t know anything was wrong. Everything was fine until my 30th week, when we found out that they had twin to twin transfer syndrome. The scans were all perfect, we …

A Dublin man who was taking part in a motorbike rally which he helped  organize for Down Syndrome Ireland died in a motorcycle crash near Kilrush yesterday. Aidan Lynam, a 44 year-old father of three from Lucan,  had helped collect more than a €1million for the charity. The fatal crash occurred outside Kilkee on the Kilrush Road at approximately 11.45am. Mr Lynam was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick where he was later pronounced dead. The driver of the car was uninjured. The stretch of road was closed to facilitate an examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators. Witnesses are asked to contact Kilrush Garda Station on 065- 9080550.

A North Clare special needs child is the first in the county to receive an assistance dog from a new national charity. Karen Murtagh, who lives in Ennistymon, has described the arrival of Rocco, a nine-month-old black Labradoodle as a “godsend” for her son, Stephen (10), who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Stephen is one of the lucky children who are benefiting from 48 service dogs provided by My Canine Companion, which trains dogs to assist children and young adults living with ASD. It is the only charity that will give an assistance dog to a child over 10 years of age, as other organisations like to pair an animal with a younger child. Each dog costs the charity over €10,000 to train and Karen will have to raise half of this figure over the coming years. Businesses in Lahinch, where she was born on Main Street, are already rallying around this worthy cause. The 19th Bar in Lahinch has …