Clare Crusaders
Who are the Clare Crusaders?
Clare Crusaders is a registered charity, dedicated to the provision of services to children living in county Clare with special needs in any of the following areas -
1. Cerebral Palsy
2. Autism
3. Down Syndrome
The Clare Crusaders running group was started by Howard Flannery in 2005 initially to help parents and families of children with cerebral palsy. He was joined by other parents and friends and so the Clare Crusaders charity for children with special needs was formed. Howard was tragically killed in a road accident while training for a fundraiser for the Clare Crusaders in June 2007.
Clare Crusaders opened their first clinic in September 2007 at the Tulla Road, Ennis. In March 2009 they moved to a larger premises in Barefield village. The clinic is managed on a voluntary basis by Ann Norton.
What services do they provide?
The clinic employs four full-time therapists who provide 35 hours of therapy each week to 120 children. They have now worked through their waiting list and all children are getting at least one treatment. A number of the children are getting all the services they provide. Childrens ages range from 2 to 18 years and they provide the following services -
Occupational therapy
Speech therapy
Physiotherapy
Reflexology
The charity also employs an office administrator who works 25 hours per week. They provide therapy to St. Clair and St. Ann's schools for children with special needs in Ennis.
Since September 2007 they have expanded their services by bringing their therapists to the children at the autism unit at Inagh National School. They also provide therapy to children at Barefield N.S. They intend to expand this service to other locations throughout the county.
The response from parents has been overwhelmingly positive and they are happy to report significant improvement in several children receiving hands-on therapies.
The Future?
The charity was started in 2005 and it took 2 years to raise the necessary funds to start their clinic. Running and maintaining the clinic costs approx €250,000 annually. All funding comes from fundraising. They do no receive any government help.
Contact Ann Norton (087) 6679340
candabrodie@eircom.net
Frank Cassidy (087) 9580533
Clare Crusaders is a registered charity, dedicated to the provision of services to children living in county Clare with special needs in any of the following areas -
1. Cerebral Palsy
2. Autism
3. Down Syndrome
The Clare Crusaders running group was started by Howard Flannery in 2005 initially to help parents and families of children with cerebral palsy. He was joined by other parents and friends and so the Clare Crusaders charity for children with special needs was formed. Howard was tragically killed in a road accident while training for a fundraiser for the Clare Crusaders in June 2007.
Clare Crusaders opened their first clinic in September 2007 at the Tulla Road, Ennis. In March 2009 they moved to a larger premises in Barefield village. The clinic is managed on a voluntary basis by Ann Norton.
What services do they provide?
The clinic employs four full-time therapists who provide 35 hours of therapy each week to 120 children. They have now worked through their waiting list and all children are getting at least one treatment. A number of the children are getting all the services they provide. Childrens ages range from 2 to 18 years and they provide the following services -
Occupational therapy
Speech therapy
Physiotherapy
Reflexology
The charity also employs an office administrator who works 25 hours per week. They provide therapy to St. Clair and St. Ann's schools for children with special needs in Ennis.
Since September 2007 they have expanded their services by bringing their therapists to the children at the autism unit at Inagh National School. They also provide therapy to children at Barefield N.S. They intend to expand this service to other locations throughout the county.
The response from parents has been overwhelmingly positive and they are happy to report significant improvement in several children receiving hands-on therapies.
The Future?
The charity was started in 2005 and it took 2 years to raise the necessary funds to start their clinic. Running and maintaining the clinic costs approx €250,000 annually. All funding comes from fundraising. They do no receive any government help.
Contact Ann Norton (087) 6679340
candabrodie@eircom.net
Frank Cassidy (087) 9580533