Patricia Luke’s mum decided to start a community event to raise funds for Barretstown as it was a place close to her son Lukes heart. Read her incredible story below:
We decided to organise this fundraiser in memory of our son Luke who passed away just over three years ago. Luke passed away from a brain tumour at the age of 13, he had been sick for 7 years.
He loved Barretstown and had been there in 2009 at a summer camp for 10 days it was a wonderful experience for him, we also went there as a family for a weekend and I remember himself and his brother in tears as we left because they enjoyed it so much.
We organised a fundraiser for Barretstown while Luke was alive and I remember how proud and happy he was handing over the cheque, so we decided to organise this one in his memory.
Our fundraiser was on the first of July on Clare Island, a place where Luke loved and spent so much time. Our plan was to get people together to have a fun day in Luke’s memory, people got the ferry to the Island from Roonagh harbour in the morning, when they arrived they had tea/coffee and sweet treats, before the adults headed off on guided walks around the Island, the children were entertained on the beach with beach games and kayaking, we then had a barbeque at Sailors bar followed by traditional music, face painting for the children, and then later that evening we had a band playing with a raffle and auction.
It was a wonderful day and it brought so many people together, we managed to raise €8,125 for Barretstown which was a lot more than we ever expected, so as a family we are so happy to have raised this money in memory of Luke and it is our wish that other children with serious illness will get the same enjoyment from this wonderful place as Luke did.
Thank you Barretstown
If you would like to find out more how you could organise a community event we would love to hear from you. Email Donna HERE
