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Strabane school embarks on £100,000 fundraising drive

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Martina McComish, principal of Knockavoe School and Resource Centre, pictured with Delma McShane from The Fir Trees Hotel. The local hotel has pledged to donate one penny of every pound it makes until June to the school’s ambitious fundraising campaign.

KNOCKAVOE Special School is gearing up to raise a staggering £100,000 in five months to counteract government cuts.
The school, which caters for nearly 100 pupils with a range of physical and learning disabilities, will lose weekly educational trips when swingeing government cutbacks take effect next month.
The weekly trips to play centres and leisure centres in Strabane and Londonderry are the highlight of the school week for many of its pupils.
Billy Caldwell - whose fight to receive lifesaving treatment for intractable epilepsy in the US garnered widespread support in 2007 - has attended the school for two years. His mother, Charlotte, said the educational excursions were a weekly treat for her six-year-old son and his fellow pupils.
The school has now embarked on an ambitious campaign to buy a school bus and fund a therapy centre on its grounds, off Strabane's Melmount Road.
Celebrity names have been quick to give their support. A summer ball in May is being supported by Tyrone GAA manager, Mickey Harte, and Sunderland boss, Martin O'Neill, who has been lined up to compere a fundraising auction on the night.
Gala ball
First and Deputy First Ministers, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness, are expected to join Education Minister, John O'Dowd, Health Minister, Edwin Poots, and local MLAs at the gala ball, which will be hosted by the Fir Trees Hotel.
The local hotel has pledged to donate a penny from every pound it makes until June to the school's cause, with a series of quiz nights and a guest tea event also planned.
The Fir Trees Hotel is one of a lengthening list of businesses and charities getting behind the cause, which is being driven by 'Friends of Knockavoe'.
John Duffy, general manager at the Fir Trees Hotel, predicted that 2012 would be "Knockavoe's year".
“When there are so many other causes out there, it's good to get behind something local. Knockavoe is a big part of this community," he said.
“The school's trips are good therapy for the kids, to get them out, and we would see them from time to time here. We had the kids here for Christmas."
‘Overwhelmed'
Charlotte Caldwell said she has been "overwhelmed" by the generosity shown already.
Relatives of pupils who attend the school have signed up for a range of fundraisers. Gary Walmsey, whose 10-year-old grandson attends Knockavoe, will play his part in April by running the London Marathon.
The £100,000 the school hopes to raise would fund a school bus and a therapeutic pool and spa, housed within a log cabin.
Knockavoe principal, Ms Martina McComish, also envisages opening the school to pupils from across Strabane, who could use its facilities and mix with Knockavoe's pupils through extra-curricular schemes.
“In this day and age of financial constraints we need to be innovative," she said.
“On these trips pupils go to Asda, Bananas in Derry, play centres in Strabane, Riversdale Leisure Centre. They allow pupils to do things people take for granted, engage with people and have a role in the community."
Charlotte Caldwell agreed. She has seen the work of teachers first hand, spending her days at Billy's side in the school.
“A lot of the pupils need 24-hour care and to get these weekly outings are the highlight of their week," she said.
“For these children, they are a really, really important event."

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