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Sineads Story Sinead lives in Darndale with her mother and little brother. She was 4 when her father was murdered. Since then Sinead has feared for her safety and dreads walking around the area in case shes the next victim. When Sinead first came onto the programme our mentor, Sister Fiona Pryle, said that Sinead couldnt sleep and suffered from extreme anxiety. Her self confidence had crumbled and she had no self-esteem. Five years on and there has been a massive change in Sinead, you would not recognize her as the same girl. She now has dreams and is working towards realizing them by completing a social care degree. Although there is still more work to be done Sinead is living proof that our programme works. Now Sinead is mentoring young children and helping with their development. Shes giving back and helping the community she came from.

Without a sponsor Sinead would not have received the tools needed to change her path in life. Without a sponsor Sinead would not have grown into the young woman she is today. It is thanks to people like you that Sinead now has a bright future; one of hope, one of opportunities and choice. To see the proud look in her mothers eyes when she speaks of Sinead is a look that money couldnt buy, or could it? We asked Sinead to describe the work of Children First and her sponsor and this is what she had to say: They keep you safe. Even when your Ma' cant do anything or youre worried, they come in and you feel better. How does child sponsorship help? By sponsoring a child with us today you can give them the opportunity to develop at their own pace, to learn and have the social skills to graduate fully in life. How does child sponsorship work? As a child sponsor, you give a monthly donation. This money goes directly to the child and their family. How much does it cost? You can change a childs life for just 21 a month. More... Watch the Children First Graduate Programme DVD here

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John OBrien OFM Gives Royalties For All Of His Books To Children First Children First are delighted to announce that writer John OBrien o.f.m has donated all of the royalties from the sale of all of his books to help Irish children living in dire circumstances have the chance of a brighter future. Tom Farrell, CEO of Children First said, Were delighted and honoured for Fr John to donate all of the royalties from his books to Children First. For a small charity like us its a great opportunity for us to not only raise much needed funds but to let people know about the work we do and the children we help. Over 1 in 10 children live below the poverty line in Ireland and its getting worse. We tackle this statistic head on by providing escape routes for children caught in the poverty trap through the Graduate Programme. Under the current economic climate it is difficult to find sponsors for each child but we want to guarantee spaces for children on our waiting list for the Graduate Programme for at least one year until we can find sponsors to invest in these childrens futures, said Tom Farrell. We launched the sale of the books in Athlone where Fr John is based. We had a fantastic night with entertainment from Mairtin OConnor and his band who played an amazing rendition of U2's song Love Rescue Me in honour of the book. Everyone had a great time and on top of that we raised much needed funds. Thank you to everyone who came, the volunteers from AIT, the organising committee in Athlone, Mairtn, The Shamrock Lodge Hotel and everyone else who helped."

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Urgent Appeal

In 2009 we have given help to hundreds of children thanks to the generosity of the corporate sector and individuals. Currently we have children waiting to enter one of our programmes and we badly need the support necessary to enable these children to receive the help they deserve. You can now make an online donation to Children First using our online donations page