‘They need to get out on days out’ - Holy Family School pupils
A tractor, lorry and vintage car run is taking place on August 25 to raise funds for a new bus for The Holy Family School. Based in Cootehill, it caters for students with special needs in counties Cavan and Monaghan.
It will cost around €73,000 for a fully accessible mini bus, with some €45,000 raised so far through various fundraisers. Currently, there are around 190 pupils using one nine-seater minibus.
Edel Sweeney is a parent of a child in the school and had abundant praise for the work the school does for her children.
“There’s three children in this house with autism, and our eldest girl is thirteen. She spent four years in the Holy Family School and she has now transitioned into an ASD unit which was huge. That was down to the Holy Family and their support and their dedication to the children in the school.
“It was the making of her, she came on leaps and bounds,” she said of her 13-year-old daughter, who is now starting secondary school.
“Only for them she wouldn’t be where she is today.”
“When Brogan, came along we first tried out an autism unit, it didn’t work,” she described.
“We contacted The Holy Family to see if we could get him in there,” she said.
“We did,” she continued, adding that Brogan is going into his third academic year in the school.
“He’s non-verbal, he has very complex needs but I know he’s happy.”
Six-year-old Borgan is “very content” in the school.
“The teachers know him as well as I do.
“You’re entrusting a non-verbal child into strangers’ hands who you don’t know,” she described, adding that she has “no problem at all sending my child to The Holy Family School”.
“He goes out content, he comes home content.
“If he’s not happy, he can get his point across very quickly to you,” she added.
A member of the organising committee of the run, she explained why she and others are so passionately hosting this fundraiser.
“They [students] all need to be included in everyday life, they need to be out in society, they don’t need stares and they don’t need people pointing at them.
“The more that we include them in society, it’s normal; it’s normal for my family so it should be normal for everyone in society to not looks at these kids any differently.”
The Monaghan woman added that children in the school also need to learn “life skills”.
“They need to get out on days out, they need to go on trips, that’s the key to having children with autism, to give them life skills.
“You can’t do that unless you have a bus to facilitate everybody.”
As a parent of three children with autism, Edel said “it’s not easy, it’s not for the faint hearted.”
“They are just unbelievable,” she added, praising The Holy Family School teachers, SNAs and staff.
Registration
The run will leave from McAnenly Fuels in Moybridge at 1pm sharp on August 25. Registration opens at 10.30am. There will be a raffle and prizes on the day. Edel praised everybody in the locality who has donated to the fundraiser to date. She outlined what people can expect on the day of the run.
“We will have a gentleman on the phone and making lots of noise,” she laughed. A food truck will also be there on the day, with anybody registering for the run getting a token for food.
“I’m hoping for a good enough turnout on the day given the cause.”
Donate
Those who wish to donate to the case, can do so here.