Change a Child's Life - Barnardos Needs Your Help

The film shows some of the people who work for Barnardos in Ireland talking about the reality of life for many of the children we work with. This is the first time that our staff: project workers, bus drivers, cooks and cleaners from Cork to Limerick, and Thurles to Dublin, have sat in front of a camera, so you can imagine what a big deal this is for all of us.

By running this appeal we want to inform people about the reality of the lives of the children we work with, the daily challenges facing them, and why Barnardos is so critical for them. Throughout the appeal we are telling the stories of children we work with -- real children and real stories.

Our first story is that of Aoife, (of course, we've changed her name to protect her identity). At 3, Aoife was living her life in darkness.

Her mum suffers from depression and has had addiction issues. Her Dad moved out of the family home leaving Aoife's mum to cope alone. Aoife's mum is agoraphobic, so she avoids public places meaning they rarely go outside. With the curtains drawn shut there was no difference between night and day in Aoife's world. She only ate tuna, usually straight from the can. She was usually dirty, and sometimes had lice in her hair.

On our website (www.barnardos.ie/changeachildslife) you can read more about Aoife and read our interview with her Barnardos project worker, Niamh, (we've changed her name too).

The reason for all of this is that Barnardos is facing funding pressure that is putting our services at risk. We are determined not to let this happen but we need your help -- that is why we are launching this appeal. We need people to commit to support us by signing up to a monthly direct debit of as little as €7 a month. This helps us to plan our services and to ensure we can keep our doors open for children like Aoife.

If you would like to know more about our campaign and the work we do, please visit www.barnardos.ie/changeachildslife

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Nonprofits & Activism

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