Candle of Grace supporting children of Chernobyl

CANDLE of Grace is a newly formed not-for-profit organisation set up in Castlebar whose main function is to host Chernobyl children from Belarus for much needed rehabilitation holidays.

The idea for the organisation came about from a family who themselves originate from the Chernobyl area and know about their problems first hand. Having moved to Ireland a few years ago they were amazed at the generosity and kind-heartedness of the Irish people who know about Chernobyl and have been helping its victims for 30 years now.

Volunteers take part in the women’s mini-marathon on May 1 in Castlebar. Apart from supporting women, this date is also special for the group as Chernobyl was infected with massive radiation on May 1, which led to widespread cancer in the area.

Last summer eight lovely children from Chernobyl were hosted in Mayo. Support came from the local community and local businesses based in Ballina, Westport, Lahardane, Castlebar, Balla, Ballyhaunis, Turlough, Ballyvary and Ballyheane.

Mayo County Council have noted the efforts and Candle of Grace are especially grateful to Councillor Michael Kilcoyne for his continuous assistance to the organisation.

The organisation has applied to the Charities Regulator for charitable status and are currently waiting for the application to be processed. They don’t have any sponsors or receive State funds and monies come from fundraising activities and the generosity of the public.

Activities are varied. They run Russian language and culture classes and are grateful to Fr. Conal Eustace for the use of the Monastery for classes and the Monastery’s chapel for monthly Orthodox Masses. Ballyheane Community Centre and the Celtic club have also been very kind in allowing the use of their premises for fundraising events.

For Christmas and Easter they organise clothes collections to be sent to orphanages and disabled people in the Ukraine and Belarus.

As a spokesperson highlighted: “We’re just ordinary people living in Co. Mayo and we’re new to all this, so we’re learning to deal with challenges as they come up. Our funds are scarce and resources available are very few. Every penny we get goes towards the hosting expenses but it is not quite enough. Our members are not paid for their work and we count on our wonderful volunteers to help us out with fundraising and to be on hand with various activities for Chernobyl kids when they are here.

“Last year transport was a huge issue, and we didn’t have enough transport available to take the kids to visit places. It was prohibitively expensive to hire a bus to bring the kids to/from Dublin Airport, which would have been much more convenient for both the kids and accompanying adults.”

The group is currently short of host families and welcomes all families who might be interested in hosting a Chernobyl child this summer and would like to find out more about it. Or you might be interested in giving a hand with children’s activities - all kinds of help is welcome.

Candle of Grace are organising a Pancake Tuesday morning on February 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Nostalgia Shop on Newtown Street, Castlebar. Please feel free to pop in for a friendly chat, a hot cuppa and a delicious warm pancake to go with it

For more information, please contact Lily on (087) 2262216 or Anna on (086) 1704844, or email candleofgrace@gmail.com. You’ll also find them on Facebook - candleofgrace.

To make a donation, you can do so via Paypal (use the email address) or find the bank details on Facebook.