Hi all,

We are hoping to raise some much needed funds for two very special charities that are close to our hearts, CUH Charity & Brú Columbanus Cork. Our beautiful daughter Aoife was born on the 27th of July last year and after her arrival she gave 2 weeks in Neonatal care before we could take her home to meet her big sister Caoimhe. She was born with a unilateral cleft lip, which was diagnosed during pregnancy. Her time in the Neonatal was to help her establish feeding. During her time there she got exceptional care from all the medical team. While Aoife was there, we were accepted into Brú Columbanus accommodation which is just minutes walk from the hospital. This facility has 26 en-suite family rooms with a supporting kitchen and lounge area. It provided us with a home away from home and gave us the opportunity to be close by to Aoife for those two weeks. It is an independent charity completely reliant on donations and fundraising to cover the running costs of the house. Some months later we returned to CUH for Aoife to undergo surgery to repair her cleft lip. She gave 2 nights in the Ladybird ward on this occasion and we cannot speak highly enough of the care she received from the moment she arrived to the moment she left. CUH Charity aims to provide a wide range of life-saving and life-changing equipment, services and facilities for patients in both CUH & CUMH.

As a measure of our gratitude we are hoping to raise as much funds as we can while completing the Cork City 10k run along with her auntie Ailish on the 2nd of June. Aoife’s godmother Sinéad is going one step further and embarking on an incredible half marathon route on the day, as an appreciation for all the care Aoife received since last Summer. We would really appreciate any support on this.

Many thanks,

Sinéad & Ciaran x