Mary Poppins comes to Birr for one day only!
A Birr woman who was so moved by the death of her friend's baby from a rare chromosomal abnormality at just 11 days old has teamed up with the staff of Birr Theatre and Arts Centre for a novel fundraising event on Saturday, March 3 next.
Libby Clarke, who lives on Green Street in Birr has organised a screening of one of the most beloved Disney musicals of all time, Mary Poppins, in the Birr Theatre and Arts Centre to raise funds for Friends of the Coombe hospital. The event was inspired by the story of baby Tom Fahey who, along with his parents, Sarah and Terry, received the most wonderful care and compassion from the staff in the Coombe hospital after Tom was born with Trisomy 18, or Edwards Syndrome, in October 2015.
Sarah and Terry are close friends of Libby Clarke, and such was the level of support and care that the Fahey family received during baby Tom's short life, and continue to receive to this day, that they decided to try to undertake some fundraising for the Friends of the Coombe.
This fundraising effort in Birr is part of a larger project which concludes with a cross country 400 km cycle on the weekend of 6-8 April. Utilising the hospice ethos, the monies raised will be used to renovate three en-suite rooms to create a family-friendly home away from home that will afford bereaved parents both comfort and dignity. As a large tertiary referral centre in Dublin many high risk pregnancies as well as very ill or premature babies from all over Ireland are referred to the Coombe Hospital for specialist care.
Libby Clarke will be taking part in the charity cycle, but she decided to organise a local event in Birr also and said the staff in Birr Theatre and Arts Centre “came on board immediately and have been exceptionally generous and helpful” in organising the screening of Mary Poppins.
The Fahey family are very grateful to both Libby and to Birr Theatre for bringing Mary Poppins to Birr for One Day Only.
Tickets for this novel screening are priced at just €5 each and are available at www.birrtheatre.com or by phoning: 057 9122911.
The screening takes place at 3pm on Saturday next, March 3, so it would make for a very enjoyable afternoon treat for all the family, and all in the name of a very good cause.