Kildare-based charity awarded €34,500 from AIB's 2022 Community €1 Million Fund

The Jack and Jill (J&J) Children’s Foundation has received €34,500 from the AIB Community €1 Million Fund, launched earlier this year.

The charity now joins the ranks of 70 local charities supported by AIB's initiative.

Having been nominated by AIB customers and the public, as well as AIB staff, this boost will support 1,916 hours of specialist in-home nursing care for children with severe to profound neurodevelopmental delay, up to the age of six, in communities across Ireland.

Commenting on the news, Carmel Doyle, CEO of J&J, said: "We are delighted to have been nominated by AIB staff, customers and the public as a charity that matters to them, and to receive this donation of €34,500 which translates into a lifeline of home nursing support for so many families, giving parent-carers a much-needed break.

"Fundraising is an increasingly uphill challenge, and this timely donation gives us a real boost in this, our 25th anniversary year.  

"Thank you so much to our friends in AIB and their customers who nominated Jack and Jill – your support will have a big impact for the families who need us," she concluded.

Earlier this year, AIB launched its inaugural €1 Million Community Fund and asked its staff, customers and the wider public to nominate registered charities that connect with causes that matter most to them and their communities.

The charities that received the most nominations in each of the five regions (Connaught, Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Greater Dublin) received funding.

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BACKGROUND

The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation is an Irish children’s charity that funds and delivers specialist home nursing and end-of-life care for children from birth to six years of age who have highly complex and life-limiting medical conditions.

Based in Johnstown Manor, Naas, its mission is to empower parents to care for their child at home, in communities across Ireland.  

J&J mobilises a crew of nurses, operates seven days a week, with no means test, no red tape and no waiting list and over 2,800 families have been supported since its establishment 25 years ago in 1997.

It kept going in 2021 and 2022, despite the challenging conditions, funding and delivering over 200,000 home nursing care hours to the children under its wing.

In order to do this, it must raise over €6 million per annum.  

Today, over 400 children and their families are supported by J&J with up to 80 hours of home nursing care per month at a cost of €1,440 per month, or €17,280 per year.

The support is often described as 'a gift of time', giving parent-carers and siblings a break from their 24/7 care regime, safe in the knowledge that their Jack and Jill child is well cared for at home, where the belong.

For more information, visit jackandjill.ie.   

Additionally, for further information on AIB’s work in the community visit www.aib.ie/community.