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A report published today by Barretstown to mark its 30th year in Ireland reveals that its therapeutic programmes for children affected by cancer and other serious illnesses since 1994 equates to some €1.9bn in social value.
Barretstown CEO Dee Ahearn has said this is a very important anniversary year for the organisation and it is now a vital component of the Irish healthcare system.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, she said the organisation basically does what the hospitals often cannot.
“We provide psychosocial support for sick children and their families. And as we were approaching the 30th anniversary, we wanted to look back on Barretstown, what had been achieved, the impact that we had and the social value.”
She said they were “really blown away” by the results and the findings of the report that the overall social value of Barretstown is €1.9bn.
“It also shows that for every one euro that was invested by Barretstown, €13 was delivered in terms of social value for our campers.”
Ms Ahern said that the families they serve are “plunged into a world of hospitals and doctors, and often grueling treatment” when a child is diagnosed with a serious illness.
“And the reality of it is, they have to grow up too quickly and they lose out on a large part of their childhood and our therapeutic programs are designed to give children back that childhood. They’re designed to rebuild confidence, independence and self-esteem.
“And we deliver these programs at Barretstown, at our campus and Barretstown. We’re open all year round, but we also deliver these programs in hospitals and schools all over Ireland.”
In relation to donations and funding, she said they were “hugely grateful to all of our supporters at Barretstown, incredibly grateful.
“We do receive 2% of our funding from the Government and I’m glad to say that we are in discussions with Minister Donnelly and we’re hopeful of receiving an increase in our funding.
“I would also like to point out that we’re also very well supported by the Irish Government and I think we should all be very proud of the fact that when Paul Newman was looking for a center of excellence in Europe 30 years ago, he received a very warm response from the Irish Government and it’s fair to say that if the Irish Government hadn’t gifted Paul the Barretstown estate back then, Barretstown would not have been able to have the huge impact that it’s had.
“And we’re hugely grateful to all of our donors. To date, we’ve served 120,000 campers, and we know that by the end of this decade, that number is going to be 250,000.
“So funding is essential for us.”
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