Crann is delighted to announce that it is to receive a transformational grant of €140,000 over 2 years from the Toy Show Appeal, through the appeal’s partners Community Foundation Ireland.
The grant will fund Crann’s Social Capital services for over 250 children, which includes fully inclusive summer camps, youth clubs, ecology workshops, conservation, visual arts, music Christmas at Crann, family barbecues and its accessible theatre group called “Breaking Barriers”.
The Breaking Barriers youth & children’s theatre groups staged two booked-out performances of Aladdin in Cork City Hall last Friday night. The show was the culmination of months hard work from the children and teenagers who attend a weekly group meet-ups every Saturday morning from September to June. All their hard work paid off as 100 people including proud mums and dads, grandparents, siblings and friends packed into each show.
The children performed a stellar show to rapturous applause! Well done to the actors for putting on an amazing show, and to Donna O’Keeney, Aisling O’Kane, Maeve Lewis and Tara O’Donovan for their hard work and guidance in putting the production together. Thank you to Cork City Council for sponsoring these shows! Breaking Barriers is part of Youth Theatre Ireland.
Social Capital Lead Tara said: “The Breaking Barriers youth group staged an unforgettable performance of Aladdin on Friday night, and it brought a tremendous amount of joy to the children themselves and to their families. It’s important that we continue to develop programmes like this, which offer unique experiences for children and help them to grow their confidence and abilities. We are extremely grateful to the Toy Show Appeal for including the Crann Centre this year. This funding will go a long way towards achieving our goals.”
Demand for Crann’s Social Capital Programme has grown rapidly by 30% in each of the past two years. A recent Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation, carried out by Crann, found that 67% of children and adults self-reported that their social confidence was significantly boosted through their participation in the programme. They shared how their independence, skills and friendship groups had all increased, they felt happier and more included.
Gallery from Aladdin
