Head shaves raise €18,400 for Mayo Down Syndrome playground

By Tom Gillespie

ON Monday, October 25, a fantastic charity event in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland West was held in the Bungalow Bar in Castlebar.

The woman behind this great night was Josie ‘Ted’ Scott. Josie is going through her own personal battle but even so is still thinking of others.

She rounded up a few more head-shavers for the night - her own brothers Mark and Peter, her friend Audrey McNicholas and her colleague Breege O’Donnell, who both work as multi task attendants (MTAs) in Mayo University Hospital (MUH), Castlebar. The reason a Down Syndrome charity was chosen for the event is because Josie has a colleague and friend, Maria Jordan, who is a nurse in MUH, who has a little boy called Dara who was born with Down Syndrome two years ago.

When Josie rang Maria with the idea of raising money for a Down Syndrome charity they knew they didn't want it just put in an account not knowing where it went.

So it was decided, after consulting with Adrian Doherty and Nichola Gilmartin of Down Syndrome Ireland West, that it would be donated specifically to the playground which will be located at the site of the regional centre that is under construction at present in Swinford.

Said Maria Jordan: “The money couldn't be going to a more appropriate cause as anyone that knows Josie knows she is full of joy and laughter. So a playground really is a place that will capture the essence of Josie!

“The playground will be fully wheelchair accessible and will be available to all children of all disabilities.”

Once it was all decided Maria set up a GoFundMe paged called 'Ted & friends shave for Down Syndrome’, with a target of €5,000.

The support has been phenomenal. There were donation buckets in the Bungalow Bar and also located on the gynae ward in MUH where Maria and Josie work.

The amount raised so far is €18,400, while all of the above are still accepting donations.

On the shave night, Josie’s family and friends gathered to support her and the other participants. There was lots of singing, mainly due to DJ Philip Redmond.

On the night two more got their heads shaved - Noel McGinty and Jason Potter. Noel McGinty also won the auction of a caricature done by Martin Keane. He kindly donated €200 for the caricature.

The man who had the job of shaving all the heads was John Joe Derrig. And he done one hell of a job.

Pictures and videos were taken by Ciaran Gavin of Hawkeye Ireland. He has helped Maria with a couple of projects and his work is outstanding.

A massive thank you to John and Orna Scott who run the Bungalow Bar.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far. The Down Syndrome community of Mayo will be forever grateful.

You can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/tedfriends-shave-for-down-syndrome.