Arklow Children’s charity the Guardian Project is launching an appeal to local businesses to pay €10 to €100 per month to cover their rental costs. The launch takes place at a special lunch event on 21st October, at The Arklow Bay Hotel, which is being addressed by Presidential candidate, Sean Gallagher.
“Our charity is only one year old but already we have been able to provide crucial support to children from the region who face special difficulties due to separation and bereavement,” says Guardian Project director Deirdre Burke. “By becoming a “rent partner”, you can help us secure these much-needed services”
“The over-riding ethos of the Centre is that children and young people are the very basis of our society, and that they have an absolute entitlement to be supported, encouraged and nurtured. They are the foundation of our future and at the core of the support of every child is the family”, says Deirdre, who is also a family law practitioner.
“In today’s society the family structure is very different, and often splintered, and I believe that the supports we provide are absolutely essential in the lives of this generation of children.”
“When children come to the Guardian Project, they realise that they are not alone, and that their family is not the only one affected by separation. They are given tools to help them cope with their individual situations; helped to understand their feelings and to work out their anger, fears and anxieties; they are given a safe space to speak and be heard. The adult whom children usually turn to in a crisis is often not available to them fully at this time, and that is where the Project can step in.”
The centre provides counselling, therapy, play therapy and additional support services to children who are experiencing Parental Separation and Bereavement. “We also offer a year round dedicated Centre for Rainbows Ireland, with our Peer Support Programme for children,” says director Deirdre Burke, who is a family law practitioner.
In addition, the project runs Family Law Mediation and an Access Facility, which offers relationship building between separated parents and children, on a supervised basis as required.
To date Deirdre says the project has had a great response from businesses and the local community but in order to continue to support children in need, they must secure their current premises for the future. “We are looking for local businesses to act as “Rent Partners” so that we can concentrate our limited resources on the services to children.”
For further details and to support this appeal you can call 0402-91477, email enquiries@guardianproject.ie or go to www.facebook.com/guardianproject.