New Kildare bride Roisin helping refugees in Syria

By Rose B O’Donoghue

A young Ballymore Eustace bride is hosting a fundraiser in aid of Trócaire’s ongoing work with refugees fleeing the Syrian crisis.

Primary school teacher Roisin O'Rourke was recently married to Ballymore man, Thomas O’Rourke.

Roisín is appealing to readers to support her ‘Something Old, Something New’ pop-up event at the local Resource Centre on Saturday, November 12 from 11am to 5pm.

The event will sell clothing from high street labels, clothing retailers, designer labels and of course, footwear and winter clothing such as coats and jackets.

Roisin said: “We’ve all seen the horrific and continued trauma that Syrian family endure but we can all support Trócaire’s work in Syria and help these displaced and distraught people”.

There are currently 1.75m Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan and 2.7m refugees in Turkey.

For five years, Syrians have been forced to flee their war torn county with European countries taking some of the exodus. To date, over 7m Syrians have fled their country with 5m seeking shelter in neighbouring and European countries and sadly, a high number of casualties dying in desperate modes of transport, many at sea.

Roisin added: “Most families leave with nothing but hope, having paid whatever they can to secure escape through ruthless people traffickers and then, have to live for years in basic accommodation shelters with little or no luxuries.

“You can contact me at 086 190 4771 to organise delivery. But please note, we want good quality items – items in condition you’d buy yourself and monies raised will go to Trócaire Syrian Project”. Alternatively, people can send a private message and contact number to Roisín on her Facebook page, Roisin O’Rourke or see Something Old, Something New also on Facebook.

ENDS