This Christmas saw 50 children from the most affected regions of the Chernobyl disaster spend their Christmas holidays in Ireland. Despite an eventful arrival of three flight diversions, snow blizzards and 3,000 miles of travel the children arrived safely and were welcomed by their host families at Dublin Airport.
Three of the children, Aleshia, Nastya, and Marina spent Christmas in Kilkenny for a much-needed break to help them recover from their Chernobyl-related health problems, both physical and emotional. Coming from very impoverished backgrounds in Belarus, the time the children spent in Kilkenny was truly a miracle and the best Christmas gift these children could receive.
In a bid to help the Chernobyl children, the 2010 O’ Riada's V Diageo Golf Challenge was held during October in the Kilkenny Golf Club .
The Challenge is organised for charity every year by John Byrne of Diageo and James Bateman of O Riadas. The match , which is played out over eight fourball pairings, resulted in a 4 - 4 draw and saw O Riadas retain the trophy for yet another year .The amount raised for charity was €2,420 and was donated to the Kilkenny Outreach group for the Chernobyl Children’s Project.
The Kilkenny Outreach group would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to both John Byrne and James Bateman as without such generosity the group would not be in a position to continue their much-needed work in helping these children.
This summer 41 children are due to arrive in Kilkenny for the Summer Rest and Recuperation Programme.
As it is the 25th anniversary of the disaster this April the Kilkenny Outreach Group are thrilled to have fundraised enough money to bring this many children.
Fundraising in these difficult times is indeed a challenge but regardless of how much money is raised the programme would not be the success it is without the wonderful host families who open their hearts and homes to these special children.
A sincere thanks to all host families both old and new.
If you would like to get involved with the Kilkenny Outreach Group, share some fundraising ideas or learn more about becoming a host family please contact us on 087 2805059
