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Come and join us for the 2010 Women’s Mini Marathon to be held in Dublin on Bank Holiday Monday 7th June at 3.00pm. As on previous years we have a bus organised and this year will be the fourth year we have a team from Sligo participating in the race raising funds for Bláthnaid’s Trust.
The Mini Marathon is always a highlight of the year combining a great personal achievement with a memorable fun filled day out with the girls.
On-line registration closes on the 27th of April and further information is available at www.womensminimarathon.ie/registration/enter_step1.asp
If you have already registered and wish to obtain sponsorship cards and a T-Shirt for ‘Team 2010´please mail fionafoley@bftrust.org or contact any of our Trustees.

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The 4th Annual Bláthnaid Foley Trust Ball

Thanks to every one that supported the ball - it was a superb evening!

As we approach the 4th Annual Bláthnaid Foley Trust Ball the time has come again for us to reflect on the work of the Trust over the past year and consider what we can achieve over the next. The significance of funds raised and their effect on the lives of families dealing with the tragedy of a precious Childs illness cannot be overstated. In the last 12 months, thanks to the efforts of this community we have donated a further €25,000 towards research into Bone Cancer. This is in addition to the previous €75,000 provided by our Trust to develop more effective treatments and ultimately, a cure, for this devastating disease. We have also continued to build on our commitment to support seriously and terminally ill children and their families from the North West. To date Bláthnaid’s Trust has provided funding for the training of the first two Paediatric Nurses from Sligo General in specialist Palliative Care; it is a fundamental objective of the Trust to continue to ensure that vital skills are in place for our sick children. We have also maintained support, through our Comfort Fund, for sick children and their families. Projects in progress also include our ‘Home from Home’ initiative.

All these events and success’s are the reason why Bláthnaid was so intent, in her last days, to make sure the Trust was established. As ever with Bláthnaid there are simultaneously not enough words and no words to express the complex unique person that she was, or convey those remarkable qualities that set her apart and make it so very, very hard to face life without her. People wonder how we go on and sometimes I find myself reflecting on the same question. The truth is that the loss of a child is so devastating, such a vast void is created that your life is unrecognisable to you, you are irreversibly changed and nothing will ever be as it should, as it was. That is why it is so important to continue building on the work we have done, to make sure we do our best, as a community to help other children faced with a similar battle for their lives. Every child is entitled to look forward to a future, it is as simple as that.

All this is achieved through the efforts of everyday ordinary people donating their time and resources through events such as Scoil Ursula’s ‘Lilac Day’, the activities of the Finnegan School of Speech and Drama in the Hawk’s Well Theatre, the annual soccer match between Dunnes Stores and Quayside Shopping Centre organised by Joe Farren, the Yeats United Girls Blitz held in September, the Abbott Family Fun Day at Halloween, the annual bus of ladies participating in the Women’s Mini Marathon and then there are the less well known but equally appreciated cake sales, raffles and local events, even the Sligo Rovers Team had a whip round before their 2009 FAI cup final. Of course all of these groups are supported in turn by the generosity of local shops, businesses and industry.

There are a number of reasons how we, as a family, have managed to cope since the loss of Bláthnaid. The first is Bláthnaid herself. She led us all with a gentle strength through all those dark times, with such humbling courage in spite of terrible pain and suffering and with so much love, boundless love. It seems that we would be reducing all that love and all those wonderful blissfully happy times if we were to do anything less than try and continue as she wished. Then there is the support we have received. Those that knew and loved Bláthnaid have shared our loss but for us, the people of Sligo, our wider circle of friends and acquaintances and those wonderful people who have been brought into our lives by Bláthnaid have been the most special, moving and unexpected source of strength and have truly made it possible for us to face each day without our beloved girl.

When, inevitably times are bleak and dark it is always the thought of her that lift us all and lets the light back into our lives. Then I think of Bláthnaid’s legacy, the legacy of love for every person yet to be diagnosed with the same devastating rare cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma, and the love she had for every child facing a serious illness and all that this entails when you live in the beautiful but remote west of Ireland. Then I think of what it would be like now, in the face of the economic crisis facing our country, and my heart breaks to realise that it could actually be worse for a family in a similar situation to ours five years ago. It’s almost impossible to imagine but I am certain that this is probably the case. Then I just think of what it is like to have a seriously ill child and I return to the facts that Bláthnaid herself pointed out to us. It didn’t begin or end with her. She wasn’t the first child from Sligo to be diagnosed with a serious illness, with cancer, to need treatment in Dublin, to need palliative care and most heartbreaking of all, to die. There are other tragic tales of loss since we lost our Bláthnaid, other families in the same awful position, families facing an uncertain future for a sick child, endless disruption to every corner of their lives while the world seems to move on regardless. Families whose lives are unrecognisable without a cherished child and all their hopes and dreams are broken. Then I come back to Bláthnaid’s beautiful legacy and I remember the difference we have already made to many families and can continue to do so for them and others. I think of all that we have yet to do and then I just think what a fitting tribute to such an incredible person. Someone who seemed so fragile at times but towered over us all with her amazing capacity to see what matters and what really matters is that we care for each other, especially the most vulnerable in our community, our sick children.

Home from Home - Our Exciting New Project

Home from Home

In March 2009 we announced our most ambitious and exciting local project. Since the BF Trust was formed in 2006 we have worked closely with Medical Professionals based here in Sligo, most notably the team at Sligo General Hospital (SGH). It was always our intention to make a difference here in the North West as well as continue to support vital research into primary bone cancer. With this in mind it rapidly became clear to us, due to the generosity of those who supported the Trust, that we could really make a lasting change for children with a life threatening illness treated at SGH. Based on research carried out as well as our own experience as a family we decided on the ‘Home from Home’ project. Put simply this building could provide much needed accommodation for at least two families and their children to enable them to stay together during the course of a child’s treatment. We could also provide vital (and to date non-existent) space for counselling of children and young people facing a similar prognosis to Bláthnaid. The facility, if we manage to obtain the right location, could be a place for families to stay whilst learning to cope with a child’s illness, such as Cystic Fibrosis or Diabetes as well as cancer, and during the period of ‘training’ that parents often undergo to become familiar with all aspects of a serious illness. Bláthnaid would not have swapped living in Sligo with any other location across the world but the simple truth is that services and facilities for young people like her are sadly lacking outside the immediate Dublin area. It was a dream of hers to change this for others and in the true spirit of ‘Hope has Wings’ we hope to fulfil this for her.

When will this take place?
We are currently working behind the scenes and continue to watch this space as well as the local Media for updates.

Can I help?
Yes of course, the more the merrier, and it is our intention to publish a list of ‘jobs’ and volunteer roles (as well as the obvious one of fund-raising) as soon as we have pin pointed the location of the property. We have experienced firsthand the caring supportive face of the people of Sligo and we already have a number of volunteers on board to help with the project. Tragically, Bláthnaid’s story is not unique and we can work together to leave a lasting legacy from us all to make a difference. Simply keep an eye and an ear out in the local media as well as the website or contact any of our Trustees for further information.

Fergal Broder m. 086 819 8558 fbroder@lotusworks.com
(Rev) John Carroll m. 086 263 2222
Dr Hilary Greaney hilary.greaney@hse.ie
Declan Hegarty m. 087 257 4775 dhegarty@millehouse.com
Pauline McDonagh m. 087 222 1796 ppp@eircom.net
John Foley - m. 086 608 0335 johnfoleysligo@yahoo.ie
Fiona Foley fionafoley@bftrust.org f.foley@yahoo.ie

Third Annual Bláthnaid Foley Trust Ball

The Third Annual Bláthnaid Foley Trust Ball held at the Radisson SAS Ballincar on Saturday 4 th April 2009 was another resounding success.

We would like to thank everyone for all their help and support.

More details and photos to follow soon.

Ewing's Sarcoma

Ewing's Sarcoma is named after Dr James Ewing, who described the tumour in the 1920s. It is a cancer which can develop anywhere in the body, although it most often starts in the bone. Any bone can be affected, but the pelvis, thigh bone (femur) and shin bone (tibia) are the most common places.
Fewer than 30 children each year in the UK develop Ewing’s sarcoma. It usually occurs in the teenage years, and more commonly affects boys than girls.
Although Ewing's sarcoma is a type of bone cancer, it can also very rarely occur in the soft tissues rather than starting in the bone. More info...

To date the Bláthnaid Foley Trust has committed €75,000 to sponsor research into Primary Bone Cancer. Last year we also announced the launch of a Comfort Fund for children in the North West of Ireland who suffer from serious illnesses and were able to provide much needed assistance for seven children and their families. We also launched a fund to promote specialist palliative paediatric training for Nurses and sponsored the training of the first palliative paediatric qualification for a Nurse working in Sligo General Hospital and provided a laptop computer for Sligo's Paediatric Ward to enable teenagers to maintain contact with their friends.

The Bláthnaid Foley Trust provides funding for research into Primary Bone Cancer and support for children with a life threatening illness in the North West of Ireland

info@bftrust.org

Why Early Detection is Important