By Lucy Corry
If you believe the advertising, Mother s Day is all about flowers, breakfast in bed and a new pair of slippers. But for some people, the day brings sadness rather than joy. Lucy Corry asks the experts how to cope when life doesn t look like a Hallmark card.
Photo: 123RF
On Sunday, Sally Hickson is hoping to wake up - or be woken up - to her first Mother s Day as a mum. Hickson, 33, is expecting to give birth this weekend. The timing could hardly be better, but Hickman s joy is bittersweet. It s amazing to be having a baby, but I just wish mum was here, Sally says. She knew she was never going to see this happen, but it was just too hard for us to talk about it.
aine.fitzgerald@iconicnews.ie
Sr Helen Culhane, founder of Children s Grief Centre with the centre s ambassador Olive Foley Picture: Orla Mc Laughlin/ilovelimerick );
);
THE Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick is calling on the support of the public to help transform a vacant building into a state-of-the-art facility to ensure a brighter future for bereaved and grieving children.
The Children’s Grief Centre - which is the only centre of its kind in Ireland - has received a 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.
In the beginning, she would be surprised to find herself sitting at the kitchen table with a friend having a giggle at something. âThe joy does come once the fog lifts. And youâd hear yourself laughing, and youâd think, am I able to laugh again? It does get easier. Catastrophic loss, too, teaches you that you have to treasure what you have.â
Raising their two, active, sport-mad boys â their sons, Tony and Dan, are now nearly 16 and 13 â without Anthony has been one of the most difficult parts of parenting alone. âI had a very hands-on husband. He loved bringing them to training, doing everything with them. Decisions were made by the two of us. When he died, all of a sudden, Iâm the top of the food chain, and thatâs a little bit terrifying.â But again, their families rallied. âAnthonyâs father would be very hands on.â
Article content
A Toronto centre that helps grieving children will be closing in the spring due to funding problems.
As of May 28, the Dr. Jay Children’s Grief Centre which has supported hundreds of grieving children over the years will no longer be offering its services.
“Since our inception, we have provided our services solely through the generosity of our donors and grantors. However, donations are variable from year to year and the Centre does not have, nor has ever had, ongoing annualized core funding,” the Centre’s board of directors said in a letter.
“This funding model has made it very hard for the Centre to achieve the financial stability needed to plan for the future and provide the continuity of service that our clients deserve.”
More than €30,000 raised for Limerick charities through virtual fundraising events
Reporter:
david.hurley@limerickleader.ie
Workers at Dell Technologies held a number of virtual events this year to raise funds of local groups and charities );
);
The Dell Technologies team in Limerick has undertaken a large number of fundraising activities during 2020 to generate funds of over €33,000 for fourteen local charities.
Despite the challenges of Covid-19, staff still found ways to support good causes through a series of virtual fundraising events including a bake-off in aid of Milford Hospice; a virtual run across Europe to support Special Olympics Ireland and a virtual variety talent show to fundraise for Barnardos.