As with other charities, all traditional fundraising events were cancelled including our annual Golf Classic, our Mid-Summer Lunch, various bag packs in supermarkets, raffles and table quizzes. We also lost out on donations from various groups who use the Centre on a regular basis.
Fortunately, we had fantastic support from members and friends of Open Door. Here are just some of the wonderful fundraisers who helped throughout the Summer.
Mary Hackett
“I have committed to doing 100 laps around my garden, at 5 minutes per lap, in order to raise funds for Open Door. The Centre will need these funds to get back up and running, once restrictions are lifted. Thank you.”
Inspired by Open Door founder and now fellow member Mary Hackett's 100 laps of her garden, Peter decided to help raise some money for his home away from home.
PETER LAWLOR WALKS FOR OPEN DOOR
“My name is Peter Lawlor I am 48 years of age, I have been attending Open Door in Bray since 1991. I go there every Wednesday and Friday and enjoy the activities. The Physiotherapy helps with my physical health and I really enjoy the Ceramics with Mark and the gang. I love making presents for my family and friends. I have made so many friends in the Centre and love to chat with the staff, volunteers and other members and I really look forward to getting back there. I am one of the oldest people in Ireland with a condition called Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS). Some of the symptoms of PWS include weak muscles, very slow development, poor feeding as an infant which then develops into constant hunger leading to obesity and it’s many side effects and premature aging. My disability is poor balance due to weak muscles. I suffer with back problems and I had one kneecap removed. I am cocooning at home since the outset of COVID-19 in Ireland and my parents are encouraging me to walk in order to maintain and improve muscle tone and balance and to prevent muscle wastage. I miss my friends and my outings so I decided to do something new. My family are amazed at my improvement through my daily walking and I decided that I would like to set up a fundraiser for Open Door to help fund the activities when the Centre re-opens. I am going to do 6,000 steps per day. This is a huge commitment for me and will take a lot of effort. I hope that you will sponsor me or donate to Open Door to let me know that you are behind me all the way.”
Anne Ferris (Chairperson of Open Door Trust)
“I dyed my hair and made a donation to Open Door. You could dye your hair too to help Open Door or just simply make a donation! Check out their website on www.opendoor.ie”.
Nicky Cox
“It's the question a lot have probably wondered and yes, it's happening....I'm shaving my hair. But, I need your help! It's been a while since the last time I got my hair cut, so I wanted to make this haircut matter.
www.idonate.ie/NickyCoxhairshave
As we know during the Coronavirus pandemic this has affected several charities in terms of fundraising, so I have decided to cut my hair for charity. I will be donating all funds for this haircut to Open Door in Bray, a Day Care Centre for people with physical disabilities. Currently the centre is closed and several of the major fund raising activities planned for the year have had to be cancelled; Midsummer Lunch, Open Door Golf Classic and the VHI Women's Mini Marathon, along with several other collection activities like bag packs and raffles. Hopefully the funds raised through this will help recover some of the funds lost from these cancellations.
The date of the shave of my hair will be Saturday 30th May. Further helping charities- the hair that we shave off will be donated to the Rapunzel Foundation, a charity which helps people with alopecia my turning real hair into wigs.
I hope you can help consider helping this cause - thank you!”
Ann-Marie Greene
“Think I’ll spend the next few days running my fingers through my hair, as on Thursday, my birthday, it will be shaved. Thank you to everyone that has donated, Open Door is an amazing facility that genuinely deserve all the support that they can get. Due to Covid 19 a lot of the major fundraisers have been cancelled which they heavily rely on, so if you want to see my Greene ears lol please donate any amount big or smallvery much appreciated and thank you all so much.”
Hazel Stevenson
“I held a cake sale and a raffle in order to raise funds for Open Door. The Centre means a lot to me as my Grandmother spent many happy years there. She really enjoyed the activities as well as the great social life.”
Mid-Summer Lunch 2020
As we could not hold our traditional lunch in the Centre, we invited people to post up photos of their own socially distanced lunches and awarded prizes for the best pictures. Photos below of some of the lunches. Many thanks to everyone who donated to this event.
