Camp Claddagh, the Galway branch of the Adi Roche founded charity the Chernobyl Children’s Project International, is looking to recruit new families and volunteers to support its annual rest and recuperation programme.
The group aims to give children from Belarus - an area affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident - a month’s holiday away from their contaminated environment with volunteer host families here in Galway. The time spent away can add up to two years to the children’s life with drops in their radiation levels regularly recorded at between 30 and 50 per cent.
Camp Claddagh is fully founded and maintained on voluntary support from its committee and host families, so all funds raised go directly to supporting the children’s travel and social activity costs. These costs are met by fundraising activities conducted by the group throughout the year. Approximately €500 is required per child travelling on the programme.
Since its inception in 2005 the Camp Claddagh group has facilitated the hosting of some 150 children in homes around Galway city and county, with the first children arriving in Galway in July 2006. Another 31 children were hosted by the group’s family members this past July and planning for the 2010 programme in now under way.
The children will be in Galway for the month of July 2010. One family would host two children for the first part of the holiday (approximately two weeks ) and then the children would move together, to a second host family for the remaining two weeks. In this way, the children benefit from the full month away, but a host family committment need only be for two weeks in that period. The children also travel with translators, who are also hosted by volunteers, to ensure an enjoyable stay for all.
Camp Claddagh is now calling on big-hearted volunteers to host two children or an adult translator during July of next year, or alternatively to lend a hand in fundraising efforts and other areas of support. Group leader Fiona Conneely would be delighted to hear from anyone who can help in anyway. You can contact Fiona on 087 2096374 or 091 574074. Further information can also be found on www.campcladdagh.com
