Making Memories..
I was still a teenager when my first nephew was born and was very lucky to have been able to spend a lot of time with him often babysitting him when my sister was at work or getting a night out. I remember at times being so nervous that he was ok and worrying and constantly checking him when he was asleep to make sure that he was.
And I’m “just” his uncle. It made me wonder at times what it must be like for a parent or older sibling.
Today myself and Marcin went to the Laura Lynn Children’s hospice to collect a few things for the CFC Charity Day on the 9th of December. I remember being at a course before where the presenter said that any charity work done by businesses is a publicity stunt – if they really wanted to do the charity work, it would be done in private. At times when we have done the charity days over the last few years this view may have been in the back of mind and looking back I might not have promoted them as hard as I should have in some aspects.
That view went out the window in my head as we were shown around some of the grounds of Laura Lynn today. We heard stories about the work going on in there such as giving parents who may be doing 12 hour shifts at a time with their kids giving them medication etc getting a break when the child gets to spend some time in Laura Lynn – often these breaks enable the parents to do something like go to a wedding, or a funeral.
We heard about the twin who was born terminally ill and spent most of his short life being cared for in the Hospice with the phenomenal attention being given to him by the staff probably helping him live a bit longer than he was expected to. Which meant he was there to share a lot of his sisters first year of milestones - creating special memories for his parents and giving her the chance to look back at photos of time spent with her twin before he passed away.
Speaking of memories, they are very big into doing all that they can for the sick children and their siblings to help them build as many special memories as they can in the short time they get together. They have child psychologists and specialists on grieving working with siblings and family members, the place is decorated so well and in such an upbeat manner that you’d never know it was a Hospice if you walked off the street. The staff we met were probably the most welcoming and passionate I’ve ever seen working in one place - they all seemed so aware of the difference they were making.
350 terminally ill children die in Ireland every year and it is expensive to run a place like Laura Lynn. Providing the professionals, medication, equipment etc. needed for the above costs €3.5 million a year – this is the bare running costs before they add anything to their services.
Our Charity Day for Laura Lynn is Saturday 9th of December. It is kicking off at 10am with an Animal Flow session and the full timetable for the day is available on the Facebook Event Link below. We have also managed to gather some really cool prizes for the Charity Day Raffle (including meals, hotel vouchers, PT Sessions, Massage Therapy and Hampers), and anyone who donates to the donation link will get tickets for that.
FACEBOOK EVENT LINK: https://www.facebook.com/events/284064928749557/
DONATION LINK: https://give.everydayhero.com/…/christchurch-fitness-centre…
Ultimately even though myself, Marcin and Michal will be running classes and Hilary will be giving out massages on the day, I wouldn’t describe this as a purely Christfhurch Fitness Centre event. It’s more something that is being facilitated by CFC and the community of brilliant members that we are lucky to have are running with it to help us do as much for an amazing charity as we can.
And any help from the point of view of coming along on the day to jump in on the classes, getting involved in the bake off with us or even liking and sharing the links above on Facebook or any of the other posts that are going up in the next 10 days will be hugely appreciated by us.
Imagine if we are so appreciative of the help, how the kids parents or siblings would feel if it would help them build some more special memories the staff told us about today…