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Children’s Grief Centre Dream Build Fundraising Campaign  

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Childrens Grief Centre Dream Build Fundraising Campaign – Pictured above is Sr Helen with centre ambassador Olive Foley

Children’s Grief Centre Dream Build Fundraising Campaign  

Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick has launched its ‘Dream Build’ Fundraising Campaign to build their new centre. The new centre will allow for the expansion of services to create a warm welcome where children, teens and their families can find healing and hope. “We feel privileged to be able to provide additional support to individuals and organisations to assist with young people and their families in grief,” founder Sr. Helen Culhane said.  


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More children than ever will be given an opportunity to share their fears and worries following receipt of a generous gift to the Children’s Grief Centre, Limerick. Sr. Helen and her team of thirty volunteers hope to expand the services they offer thanks to the generous gift of a new premises at the John Henry Newman Campus at Mary Immaculate College. The building has been gifted by the Mercy Congregation, South Central province. This building is located on the grounds of the original Children’s Grief Centre.  

Childrens Grief Centre Dream Build

An artist rendition fo the proposed sensory garden for the new centre

The gifted building is currently vacant and requires a full renovation to become a purpose-built service catering for up to 70 children per week.  

The centre, founded by Sr. Helen in 2009, currently welcomes around 25 children per week. To date, volunteers at the centre have helped more than 1,500 children affected by loss through death, separation or divorce. Currently, the centre is limited in the support it can offer to due space constraints.  

The new building fund got a fantastic boost today with the Run for Liam Team adding their €116000 in funding to the campaign in June 2019. That made the centre over a quarter of a way to their goal of raising 1 million euro. They could not have achieved this without the amazing support from all involved in the Run for Liam. Sister Helen said, “We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for making such a difference and in helping our dream become a reality.” Most recently Analog Devices raised an incredible grant of €20,544 towards the cause.   

Sr. Helen and the Board of Management are working to transform the service through a series of additional resources as part of the new development.  

 

These include – dedicated rooms specifically designed for four to nine-year-olds; six to twelve-year-olds and teens up to 18 years, a library, three adult support rooms, a conference room and six staff offices and the new centre will include a waiting room equipped with tea and coffee making facilities along with reading material for parents and guardians along with free parking.  Childrens Grief Centre Dream Build  Childrens Grief Centre Dream Build 

Outside, an interactive sensory garden will offer children an opportunity to communicate with the natural world. Young people’s expression of feelings is facilitated in several ways, appropriate to their age, developmental stage and wishes. Listening is key, but much use is made of creative play, paint, music, and sensory materials games and workbooks. Play is one of the best ways for children to work through everything they wrestle with, from everyday challenges to anxiety, fear, and even loss and death,” Sr. Helen said.  

  

For fundraising enquiries contact [email protected]  

To donate go HERE 

For more stories on Children’s Grief Centre go HERE 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.