Jack and Jill ask the Community to host a Summer Afternoon Tea to mark their 25th Anniversary, kindly supported by Glenveagh.
Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation marks 25 years of serving Leinster children with home nursing care, by encouraging supporters to host an Afternoon Tea event in their community, kindly supported by Glenveagh.
The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation was founded 25 years ago this month by two pioneering parents, Jonathan Irwin and Mary Ann O’Brien, based on their family’s experience of caring for their son Jack at home in Maynooth with the help of local nurses until he passed away, at home, aged 22 months. Baby Jack’s home nursing care plan became the blueprint for over 2,700 children in communities across Ireland who have been supported by The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation since then, as Mary Ann and Jonathan vowed that no parents should have to walk this difficult care journey alone. They set about establishing a practical home nursing care model and raising funds to deliver it.
Today, Jack and Jill provide in-home nursing care, respite support and end-of-life care for children with severe to profound neurodevelopmental delay and highly complex medical conditions, up to the age of six, all over Ireland. The charity currently supports over 400 families across Ireland and has supported 2715 families over the past 25 years.
To mark this significant milestone for Jack and Jill, the charity is asking the public to host their own Anniversary Afternoon Tea with purpose for loved ones, friends or colleagues, while supporting local Jack and Jill families.
The McHugh family
Carmel Doyle, CEO of Jack and Jill commented,
We are so proud of reach across the country. This is a wonderful opportunity to get together with friends and to raise money to support local families by organising your own tea party. With more children under our wing than ever before and less than 25% of our funding coming from the HSE, we rely on the support of our local community in the knowledge that what’s raised locally, stays locally, making a real difference to Jack and Jill families. With Jack and Jill charity really does begin at home, quite literally, but we need more locals to sign up as monthly ongoing donors to support ongoing care of up to six years for local children. We’d like to say a huge thanks to our sponsors Glenveagh who share our values of local community care.
Stephen Garvey, CEO of Glenveagh Homes said,
We are very proud to be supporting Jack and Jill on this milestone anniversary and helping them to raise vital funds to continue the important work that they have been doing for the past 25 years. Our communities are better places to live because of the work that they do, and Glenveagh is delighted to be able to contribute in some small way to ensure that families continue to receive the incredible care that Jack and Jill nurses offer. At Glenveagh, we understand the importance of investing in sustainable communities, and how the work we do today can benefit the communities of the future, and I would like to commend Jack and Jill on their unfaltering efforts over the past 25 years to make life in communities around Ireland that little bit easier for families that need it most.
