A cry for help
Parenthood is by no means a sure thing. In our heads, we form a theatre of characters… the characters who play us are nicely predictable, the children – our imagined children – that act out cute renditions of ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ in our heads are often sadly far from the parallel reality. The trouble is, you never know what shape the jelly mold of combined DNA will actually take until it’s too late.
Let me throw you a hot spud… when you’re walking down a populated street and your gaze falls upon a disabled child being pushed by a resilient parent, your gaze is not of admiration or respect. No. If you’re like me, like most of the planet, you’ll feel a sudden sadness. You catch a smell of pathetic tragedy that such a child occurred and you make a concerted effort not to stare.
As you walk away, you say to yourself: ‘Oh please God, don’t ever let that happen to my babies.’
God listened as that prayer left my lips as a young woman, and made his decision right there and then, not to grant it. He proved to me that I was capable of loving the impossible, and I’m infinitely glad now that he did.
I felt like a martyr at first. I felt weak for accepting help, ashamed to even entertain the thought of handing my broken child over to capable hands for more than an hour at a time. I would’ve shoved the kid back up into my womb to grow into adulthood if I could, but instead I found an even safer haven… a paradise of open-minded un-adulterated top-quality care.
St Catherine’s ’special school’ approached me when Laughingboy was but a few months old and began taking him regularly in therapy classes at the tender age of one, the date he first started was the 3rd of September, 2002. I remember this date vividly for it was the day of Laughingboy’s last seizure, the regularity of these had been slowly growing more and more violent with each day passing so their sudden halt was amazing to us. Even his neurologist was lost for words.
Since that fateful day, St Catherine’s has carried my cross and has done the work that I could not possibly do. I cannot describe the guilt and grief I felt before they took my hand, the knowledge that I should be constantly entertaining this tiny rag-doll, this perpetual baby that couldn’t even acknowledge my existence. All I could do was wrap him up safe and leave him, staring into oblivion until I returned again. How selfish my free time became!
He acknowledges my existence now. He turns his head and smiles and giggles and kicks his perfectly formed legs with glee. St Catherine’s gave him those legs. They brought him swimming, they made splints to help his bones form properly and placed him in a whole array of positions so that his entire muscle mass developed. I couldn’t have done that. They play endless games and engage him in hand-over-hand entertainment, they sing to him and gave him the ability to lift his heavy head, all on his own. I can’t sing for peanuts.
St Catherine’s is in trouble.
This is where I become sheepish because this is where you come in, and I know that by now you have whiffed the familiar sweaty tang of a beggar-lady who is aware that a bended knee is not always a shameful thing.
St Catherine’s owes the Revenue Commissioners €1.25 million. The payments from the HSE and the Department of Education were halted suddenly in 2006 and now the school is in severe debt – while they are cagey with the exact number, I believe the number floats somewhere around the €6 million mark.
Needless to say, their belt has been tightened. There is now a bare minimum of staff, we the parents were informed at a meeting – I think even before the staff were – that redundancy packages were being bandied about. They have halted all counselling services for staff, cut weekend respite to the bare minimum, and let the extra nurses go. They have stopped all external training seminars thus halting progress in its tracks, and have put a stop to trips to the swimming pool.
But the worst of all. All those new babies, those new broken children in tireless hospitals are now on their own. Harry Cullen himself, a voluntary worker, CEO of the school, has to call these distraught parents ‘at such a vulnerable time’ as he said, and explain to them that the inn is full.
THE INN SHOULD NEVER BE FULL.
Apparently the HSE don’t want St Catherine’s to close, so they have told the school to create a recovery plan by the end of October and then they would talk further about the possibility of some cash. Mr. Cullen is not holding his breath however, he can see like the rest of us that the HSE seems to be in dire trouble itself.
And what of the Department of Education? I’m fearful of what to tell you, also I don’t know for sure. I sense that the school is staring down the barrel of a large gun, that’s all I can give you, really. The lack of information is quite bizarre.
The Revenue Commissioners are sympathetic to a point, but cutting through all the ducktape that pins St Catherines to its virtual interrogation chair will be very, very expensive.
So who is left? I’m afraid the answer is you, and your brothers, your sisters, your neighbours and your talkative coalman. Please help this amazingly worthy charity in any way you can. Their bank details are below, a standing order is there too… €5/month would be just out of this world, and the tax from this mighty gift would return to the school at the end of the year*. They’ve even put together Christmas cards, if you’d like to buy some.
I’m slightly biased, I’ll admit, but they do a job that is way and above any amount of cash and you know it. Schools like St Catherines all over Ireland are suffering too, but I offer this one to you. I would do anything to stop it from liquidating so I ask you humbly for your help. Thank you so much for reading all of this, if all you can do is link to this page I would be eternally grateful.
-o0o-
And now for the official extras:
If you live in Co. Wicklow, freetext “Autism” to 50308, before 31st October 2008. If you join this affinity plan, 02 will donate 5% of your bill to St Catherine’s service until 31st December 2009. If you don’t live in Wicklow, text “autism” to 087-9245894.
Their banking information is as follows:
Account Name: St Catherine’s Association Ltd
Bank: Allied Irish Bank
Address: Church Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, Ireland
Account No: 009920234
Sort Code: 93-35-54
iBan#: IE44AIBK 9335 5409 920234
Their address is:
St. Catherine’s E.D.C.
Newcastle,
Co. Wicklow,
Ireland
Email: accounts@stcatherines.ie for more information.
And if you click HERE, you’ll find a printable standing order.
This is the website for the school; St Catherine’s EDC… you’ll find a lot more information on their services here. (Thanks to Prin for reminding me!)
-o0o-
Again, THANK YOU for any help you can give, you have no idea what this means to me!
* Tin Man 18 has just soundly pointed out to me that in order for the school to get the tax back, the standing order amount must be €21 per month (€250 a year). I’m raging I forgot to add that earlier!!! Thanks dude.
[...] A cry for help Find [...]
I’m off to the bank tomorrow on other business. Consider this done.
Great post, Great cause.
I wish for the best and shun the worst thoughts.
Dude you rock.
Kate can I help? Will they accept a foreign transfer?
My sister in law’s young fella is in a similar place in Baldoyle so I fully understand your plight. Twill be sorted.
Would a one off donation be helpful? (I can’t commit to the regular thing at the moment…)
I had already joined the O2 donation as I saw it on another blog a while ago; I’ll set up a standing order asap. And I’ll pray that they get the funding they need
Take care
I’ll send a few quid their way come payday.
May I suggest auctioning your new mobile on EBay when you win “post of the month” (again) for this?
[...] I want you to do three things. Shift your arse over there and read it. [...]
Baino; I got your facebook message too! Thanks so much for wanting to help – email on it’s way.
Thriftcriminal; I hope his school’s okay? Thanks for the dig out :)
Jenny; Oh don’t worry, I only stuck in the standing order out of sheer cheekiness ;) Anything, no matter how small, always helps. Thanks a million.
Tatty; Céad Míle maith agat!! Your kindness won’t go unanswered.
Bad Ambassador; Thanks dude! I’d put meself on Ebay if TAT would allow it.
€5 a month is so small a favour to ask for such a worthy cause.
Surely people can forego one beer a month, but what sickens me to the core is that given the recent boom times the government have let this situation even develop.
Consider it done!
Top drawer!!! Thanks :) I shudder to think how many other places are at death’s door because of this damn recession.
Done, done, done.
kate, do they have a website i could link to? i personally don’t have any money but perhaps i could get some donations by reposting your post and linking to their website and the donation letter. i would be glad to do it and wish i could do more.
Rick; Sound, sound, sound!!!!!!! Seriously appreciated.
Prin; Oh thank you so much, links are golden. The school does have a website but it’s quite basic. I’ll add it to the post above, thanks for pointing it out! D’oh.
Thanks K8!
You have solved my Christmas Shopping dilemma. What to buy for Uncle Tom Cobley and all.
A Card with a link to where their pressie money has gone.
It it is posted early enough, who knows it might be catching!
Bless you Grannymar, I’m seriously honoured that you’d do that… glad to save valuable thinking neurons of course too :)
Excellent idea. A seriously emphatic fair play to you.
K8,
Post the info or email it to me as to how we here in the US can help as well.
I’ll send off whatever I can.
K8, what a beautiful way to bring this to the forefront of people’s minds. As Jackmcmad states, the price of a pint from everyone would make so many Charitable organisations lives easier, its just unfortunate that the good work done by many of these organisations is hampered by our pathetic Government and nothing short of mis-management at the highest levels.
Raj
[...] Have a look HERE [...]
ok, it up. i posted the pictures too. i hope that was alright…kinda felt strange doing that…you know stalkers and all. if you want me to remove them i will. just let me know. good luck with it.
I won’t go on a rant like I did in my email, but it pisses me off greatly that Bertie sleeps with his nose two inches from the ceiling with all that (allegedly) nicked cash under his mattress when St Catherines is on its knees.
I will set up a standing order, I’m not going to miss a fiver a month, like most people, it gets lost down the sofa more often than not, but if it makes a small dent in the deficit then great.
I thought maybe I should get my arse in gear and update the old blog, so you have given me the shove to link to this…good luck!
Maybe see you in Dec?
Oh K8. If it weren’t for Holy Family Special School in Sligo, our own laughing boy wouldn’t be in his local national school now. When they took him in he could hardly speak and he violently self-harmed; that’s all past now.
St. Catherine’s shall have my standing order, my Christmas card order, a link to your appeal, and meanwhile I will be formulating a Cunning Plan for more… but I might need a tiny bit of your help with that one. Will be in touch!
big hugs to you and the wee man meanwhile—
S
x
There’s a cheque in the post… well, there will be the next time I pass a post box!
Saw the link Mr. Bock put on his site and have followed his example. I’ll see what I can do.
Brian; Thanks a million, but there’s no pressure, even a link would help a massive amount. As far as I know there are no problems with international transfers or dollah cheques, but I could be wrong. I may have to consult my 8-ball.
Raj; Thank you for skating by and sharing my frustration, for it’s a good point, that. When St Catherine’s gets itself back from the edge of this precipice, what’s to say the gub’ment won’t shove it back again?!
Prin; It’s perfect just the way it is, tonnes of gratitude for spinning your traffic my way for a bit, and for the excellent encouragement :)
Queen of Clean; Oh wow… I put up a link to the standing order because I was chancing my arm, I really didn’t expect so many kind souls to print the darn things out and use ‘em. Thank you so much. I’ll be there to meet you in the big shmoke with big bells on!
Susan; I can’t believe the work and heart you put into this, thank you so, so much for your support, and an amazing blog dedication too. I’m utterly amazed, and am gratefully ready for any questions you have!
Jenny; A most emphatic **HUG**
C’est La Craic; Dude. Sound.
I have a UK bank a/c so let me know how I can send a few quid to the cause
Hey Kate, as I’m sure your aware I’m in France (the Irish market just isn’t good for me right now :) and normally I don’t think that it shouldn’t pose a problem but I’ll ask in the bank tomorrow. In the mean time, does anyone know if there are any special steps to take for an international transfer?
p.s I see you listed Amélie as one of favourite films. Props my dear, props. I would highly recommend Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles from the same director and also with Audrey Toutou.
After that you might like to check out L’Auberge Espagnole.
Have a few Euro in my possession I’d love to send over. If there’s a snail mail address I can send it to, please let me know.
Also linked on my site and will send a donation asap. As a parent of a child with special needs, what you are saying resonates very powerfully.
Stephen/aka PaddyAnglican
Quickroute; I’m not so sure of the politics of interweb banking, so I’ve added the school’s address to the post above… I hope that helps? Thanks a million :))
C’est la Craic; I’m at a loss for advice in that department :( Don’t worry though, your link gave me valuable traffic!!!
I’ve been itching to watch more French flicks, but unfortunately live with a subtitle-phobic. I’ll be ordering these ones though… I can see you’re a trusted source! These look excellent.
Maureen; Thank you so much!!! I’m indebted to you, to everyone for your kindness. This rocks. I’ve added the address above on your suggestion :)
PaddyAnglican; You can understand how much I appreciate this!!! Thank you most soundly.
Thanks for the address info, Kate. I’ll be mailing it off on Monday. I’d checked their website and saw that same info, but I was thinking street name and number were missing.
Hi Kitty,
I’ve forwarded the link to this post to my mum and Andrew. Your boy is beautiful, look at those eyes!
You write so well, I’ve always admired that about you! Your words have really touched me this time!
Hi K8:
I’m in California and my online bank won’t let me transfer outside the states. Thanks for posting the address. My check really is in the mail. Your posts continue to touch my heart. What a beautiful mother you are.
So if I’m reading this right, a few million is needed to get them out of the hole? Would it not be better to put the raised money into another independent fund and not have it used to pay off the taxman who unfortunately has a right to demand any money going into this org be given to them?
Well done, K8, I’m sending off the form today. I think that in order for the school to get the tax back too it has to be €21 per month (€250 a year) so I’m doing it for that.
Maureen; Sure ’tis out in the country… no need for numbers in the styx!!
Rachael; Haloooo!!! I’m so chuffed you commented :) Thanks for spreading the word – you rock. You’re so welcome to me blog… it’s a bit strange but it keeps me off the streets. XX
Portlairge; Excellent!!! Thank you so much :) It’ll come back to you ten fold.
Damien; At the meeting, the CEO explained that one of the other parents who is a chartered accountant has stepped up to help organize the accounts and hopefully iron out questions like these. It’s a good point though, I’ll raise it at the next meeting, ta!
Tinman18; Wow that’s savage, dude, thanks a million. I’ll be adding this info to the post in 3…2…1…
[...] emailed a few times to give a push to this blog post about a charity owing a lot of money to the taxman and needing a dig out. Not sure how able they [...]
[...] http://www.cackaloo.com/a-cry-for-help/ [...]
[...] K8 the G8 has woes of her own. Maybe you can help a good cause? [...]
Hi K8,
Tears in my porridge after that. I’m putting a link on my own page (so all of maybe zero people see it but you never know).
I’ll make a transfer to the account myself. Catherine’s sounds like a truly great place after what they and you have done for your little man.
[...] http://www.cackaloo.com/a-cry-for-help/ [...]
Welcome Holemaster!! Places like St Catherine’s are sadly only as good as their bank account. You and all the other kind souls here are keeping it alive, for which I’m extremely grateful. Thank you SO much for your help :)
[...] Read the post. Look into the eyes of her beautiful child. Be inspired. Spread the word. Do anything you can to help St. Catherine’s. Be brilliant. Share and Enjoy: [...]
Didn’t realise things were so bad in St. Catherine’s. I’ve seen all the posters up for the O2 appeal and already did that. Anyway, courtesy of Google Inc., they shall be receiving proceeds of adsense earnings from a few of my other websites.
That’s done Kate – the O2 thing. I’ll send email to friends as well.
Le Craic; I’m so delighted you can do this!!! Thank you so much :)
Jane; Thanks for commenting! I’m delighted you found this and for your help, thanks a million.
So glad you posted this K8. See, I told you there’d be a good response! :) I think I will do a big donation for Christmas instead of buying presents for people like my parents who have everything. Everyone would feel good and a great cause will benefit. I’ll link to this later this week.
You might consider setting up a Paypal account with the donation function so that people outside of Ireland can send money.
I really hope this makes a difference.
I’d gladly set up an SO, once AIB get around to reducing the SO I already have setup to put money in my savings, since Internet banking says that I can’t edit it from there :(
[...] a national pasttime, please spare a thought for those who are suffering the cutbacks the most. Kate sends out a cry for help to save St Catherine’s EDC, a “special school” that has [...]
[...] A cry for help Find [...]
Deborah; Wow, that’s a beautiful thing to do :) Thank you!! I’m waiting for the accounts people to get back to me with an iBan number which should make things easier!!
TheChrisD; It’s those wee swipe-card gizmos the w/bankers post out to you to verify accounts from home that get me. That must have cost them a fortune.
K8 I hope you get another blog post of the month award for this. Wow, fair play – great post. I’ve nominated and am off to donate. Well done, you keep on showing how great and powerful blogging can be :-)
Linked. And texted. Fingers and toes crossed for you, my little ray of sunshine xx
[...] So off you go then, Clicky linky here addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Firishtaxi.org%2F%3Fp%3D842′; addthis_title = ‘A+Cry+for+help’; addthis_pub = ”; [...]
Darragh; Thanks so much! It feels odd accepting a nomination though, no matter how warming the thought… it’s really not what I was after! I fear that people might get sick of me playing the disability card. I do royally admire the power of this community though. It’s amazing.
English Mum; Thanks dollface – you got in with the text in the nick of time, excellent stuff :)
Hi K8
My friend works for a large food company who every year have a competition for the most worthy cause as nominated by their staff. I asked (bullied) her to nominate St Catherine’s and she did and attached your essay above to the nomination. The prize is €25,000 so hopefully your writing can touch their hearts as much as it has ours. Fingers crossed.
xx
What?!?! Seriously? That’s brilliant – I don’t know what to say!!!
Oh wow. Thanks a million, fingers and toes crossed here too!
xxx
I just came on to this post, and have sent it to my large extended family and friends with orders to pass it forward. How is it going with the funding?
That’s wonderful, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you’ve helped out like that.
I’m not sure exactly how the funding is going!! I’m hanging on the edge of my seat for the next parents meeting, hoping that the fundrasing efforts have made a bit of a dent.. as soon as I find out, I’ll post an update.
I do so wish I could find out how much money you’ve all contributed, if not for my own curiosity then to show everyone who’s commented here and thrown their few bob in, how far their kindness has gone. Your support amazes me.