UCC’s Early Years and Childhood Studies class are raising money for the charity “Children in Hospital”. The students are are working together despite the physical distance to complete 5k or 10k each while donating funds to the charity online.

Final year student Shelly O’Connell stated that “The idea is for anyone to complete 1 (or more) 5k or 10k each whether you want to run, walk, jump, skip or even hop and donate to the charity, the common idea is 5k for 5 euro or 10k for 10 euro. If you cannot donate that is perfectly okay too, I would just ask that we all share the donation link and even the map of a completed walk, or even share a screenshot of your donation on your social media accounts to raise awareness of the charity.”

The charity Children In Hospital was founded in 1970 and in the decades since then has engaged in advocacy and education in regard to the specific needs of children and young people in hospital, has made available information for parents and families, and has provided a volunteer-led play and recreation service. Since then, there has been a significant expansion of this service: it is now available in fourteen hospitals around the country, with more than 500 volunteers providing play facilitation on a daily basis in wards, emergency departments, outpatient departments, and, where available, playrooms. This equates to an annual total of around 48,000 volunteer hours with the service reaching approximately 100,000 children. 

The fundraiser has raised over €300 and if you would like to support the EYCS students in their fundraiser, you can donate here.

Beth O’Reilly

Commercial and Fundraising Officer