Mother is inspired by the work of Co Kildare charity
A mother who was inspired by the work of a Kildare based charity surprised the organisation by raising €2,500 and presenting them with a cheque.
Celine Cole’s son Adam, who is now aged seven was diagnosed with autism and was non-verbal when he began attending Kildare town based charity Sensational Kids at the age of two and a half. Sensational Kids offers subsidised speech and language therapy and occupational therapy to children with special educational needs. Adam, like all of his other classmates will enter First Class in September having made huge strides with his speech within the space of a few years.
Ms Cole said: “Adam started with Sensational Kids when he was two and a half and originally he was doing speech and language therapy as well as occupational therapy. He was then discharged by the occupational therapist because Adam had achieved all that he needed to with her and he has continued with the speech and language therapy. Adam’s speech has come on hugely, particularly this year and he is doing well at school. However he has a long way to go, sometimes his words can get jumbled up and at times he might have half a sentence out when he stops and it’s like his brain is ticking over while he is trying to find the next word.”
Speaking about the charity for which she fundraised, Celine, who lives on the outskirts of Portlaoise said: “I would have nothing but great things to say about Sensational Kids. Back when Adam was first diagnosed we didn’t know where to go and we spoke to the HSE who told us that it would be a year and a half to two years before he would be seen. It was actually one of the ladies in the HSE who told us about Sensational Kids and she put us in touch with the Sensational Kids Speech Therapist. Adam gets speech and language therapy once a week so Sensational Kids has made it very affordable for us. It is affordable because its subsided and it has worked out that it is costing us half what it would cost from another private service. I can genuinely say that Adam wouldn’t be where he is today without them, they are fantastic.”
Ms Cole then went on to pay tribute to Sensational Kids founder and CEO Karen Leigh.
She said: “Karen is passionate about the ethos of Sensational Kids and has led the charity since its foundation around a kitchen table in 2007. The charity is working towards its aim to be the leading provider of accessible and affordable developmental and educational services to help the one in four children with special educational needs and in the process has saved families over €500,000 in therapy fees.”
She added that she was very aware that as Sensational Kids receives no government funding. It is dependent on supporters’ goodwill and donations from the public and corporate partners and that is why she set about fundraising.
Ms Cole said: “I set about fundraising late last year and by Christmas I had raised €500. Then April was Irish Autism Action month and I decided that I would be able to raise awareness of autism and fundraise during the month by holding some events. One of the biggest events I held was at The Heath Golf Club on 15 April. The help and support received from the Heath Golf Club was incredible, all involved did their very best to make this a very successful event and we are delighted that we asked them to host the evening. Before the event had even started, The Heath Golf Club presented us with a donation of €800 which was just incredible. Therefore with the over generous donation from The Heath Golf Club and the funds raised on the night we generated €1500 for the charity. In total I raised €3,000 and in addition to the €2,500 donated to Sensational Kids I decided to also donate €500 to an organisation called LOFFA – Laois Offaly Families For Autism who local parents rely on for support for their children.”
She expressed gratitude to all those who supported her.
Ms Cole said: “I am truly thankful for the generosity shown to us on the night and throughout the month and wish to thank The Heath Golf Club, local business owners, BNI Portlaoise, our local sponsors for the spot prizes (The Office Centre, Expert Electrical, Albany Portlaoise, Sarah and Jerry Kavanagh, Helen Dolan from Joli Hair and Beauty and everyone who attended for their donations and support on the night. I would also like to express my gratitude to everyone involved in the fundraising for all the donations received throughout the month of April and May to bring the grand total to €3000.”
Karen Leigh said she was delighted with and very grateful for the support which Sensational Kids had received from Celine, her family and friends.
Ms Leigh said: “I want to sincerely thank Celine for her fundraising efforts and to express my delight that Adam is doing so well and making excellent progress. As a charity, we rely on our supporters’ fundraising efforts and without people like Celine, we would not be able to do what we do. Our role is to step in and to bridge the gap where state services are inadequate or non-existent and to provide subsidised occupational therapy as well as speech and language therapy services to families who have children with special educational needs.”