On Saturday night 36 finalists in the National Lottery’s Good Causes Award gathered in the Clayton/Burlington hotel in Dublin for a Gala Awards dinner which was hosted by TV presenter Karen Kostner. The new Awards are aimed at honouring the extraordinary work impacting on communities all over Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding.
The Children’s Grief Centre in Limerick were one of the 36 finalists and one of 6 in the Youth section. The centre is a place where children who have lost a loved one through separation, divorce or death can have a voice. To date it has helped over 1,200 young people.
The winner of each section won €10,000 towards their fundraising and the overall winner won €25,000.
The Children’s Grief Centre won their Youth category and also the overall award giving them a total prize fund of €35,000!
Helen Culhane receiving her award for winning the Youth section from TV presenters Karen Kostner and Alan Hughes
Sr. Helen Culhane of the Children’s Grief Centre said: “We are overjoyed to receive this reward. Children often find it difficult to express their feelings through language so by providing them with clay and paint, sand and crayons, we allow them to choose their own form of expression. The impact of this work with children is incredible. As a result of attending the Children’s Grief Centre it has been shown that children are happier, more calm, and have less feelings of anger, guilt and sadness.”
Josepha Madigan, Helen Culhane and Dermot Griffin
The award was presented to Helen on behalf of the Children’s Grief Centre by Josepha Madigan, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dermot Griffin, Chief Executive of the National Lottery.
The awards will be aired in full on Virgin TV on Sunday November 11th at 9.30pm. Congratulations to the Children’s Grief Centre and many thanks for all your good work!
To see Helen’s interview on Virgin TV’s morning programme, Ireland AM, please click here
To read an article that appeared in the Irish Mirror, please click here.
To read an article that appeared in the Limerick Post, please click here.
South Central Province
