It was an enormous privilege and with gratitude that Schools of Sanctuary was invited to Strokestown House, Co Roscommon, on December 11th for a Charity cheque presentation by Mr. Jim Callery, the person responsible for saving Strokestown Park House in 1979 and for setting up the National Famine Museum there.Â
Jim decided to walk the 165km of the National Famine Way in remembrance of Strokestown’s missing 1,490 famine emigrants who were the inspiration for the creation of the National Famine Way and also to raise money for chosen charitiesÂ
He raised the impressive total of €165,200 by walking the entire length of the National Famine Way from the National Famine Museum in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon to EPIC, the Emigration Museum in the Dublin docklands in October 2024. Jim completed the Famine walk on Wednesday 15th October on his 90th birthday. Jim split the remarkable total between four charities identified for their work in the area of immigration, each receiving €41,300.
Schools of Sanctuary was chosen as one of these four charities and was represented at the ceremony by Dr Veronica Crosbie ( Chair of POSI) and Sive O Connor (Schools Coordinator for SOSI). We were also delighted to have one of our Champion Schools, St. Nathy’s Ballaghadereen with us to receive the donation, represented by three students – Anzal Hussein (Somalia), Aya Alhamoud (Syria) and Samira Vaezi (Afghanistan) with Champion teacher Martina Peyton
The other three charities chosen by Jim were:Â Â
- The Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin represented by Fr Kevin Kiernan.
- New Horizons Refugee & Asylum Seeker Support Group (Athlone) represented by Gerry Callaghan (Chair) and Dr Chris Mc Dermott (Secretary)
- Safe Home Ireland (based in Mayo but working nationwide) represented by Ann Roddy (Secretary) and Johnny B. Broderick (Board Member).
It was an amazing and inspirational event to be a part of and to meet Mr Callery and his family. It was such an honour to be chosen and recognised by Jim. Schools of Sanctuary will use the donation to grow our network of schools in the Midlands, West and Northwest and create a strong and active Sanctuary network in the region.Â
Photo by Steve RogersÂ