Mystery donor gives over €500,000 to Cork schools and charities
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A mystery donor has gifted what is believed to be more than half a million euro to Cork schools and charities.
The quartet of Cope Foundation schools catering for children and teens with extra needs are among the recipients of this wonderful windfall — an anonymous donor has gifted them €50,000 each.
Therapy rooms, playgrounds and more day trips on the school bus are all part of plans that will now get underway almost immediately for these special Cork schools.
And the good news didn't stop there. The mystery benefactor was on roll and gave donations of similar amounts to these Cork charities too.
- Cork Arc Cancer Support House
- Irish Wheelchair Association
- Pieta Cork
- Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
- St Killian's School, Old Youghal Road, Mayfield
- Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery
- Blood Bikes
The four Cope school that benefited are:
- Scoil Aislinn
- Scoil Éanna
- St Paul's
- Scoil Bernadette
The Cope schools said there was no hint that such great news was coming their way... the first they knew was when a letter arrived in the post from a Cork city solicitor firm letting them know that someone generous was thinking of them. And the donor wants to keep their name a secret.
Claire Vernon is principal of on Cork's Boreenmanna Road, which caters for children with autism and complex needs and they currently have 36 students.
She said: "All of us in Scoil Aislinn were in shock and overwhelmed by the very generous anonymous donation that we received this week. Scoil Aislinn is in the process of getting a new building and this donation will help greatly with outfitting therapy rooms. And the donation will also help to supply us now with new music and PE equipment for all the students."
She had a delighted message for their anonymous donor: "People's kindness continues to amaze us."
is a primary school in Cork's Montenotte and it supports people with mild intellectual disabilities. School principal, Elaine Angland, said they were thrilled with the surprise anonymous donation: "The excitement was tangible when we opened the envelope and a cheque for €50,000 jumped out!"
"The pupils, staff, families and Board of Management of Scoil Éanna are overwhelmed by the generosity of our anonymous donor. We are so excited to be able to regenerate our old playground. This will really benefit our children and enhance wellbeing and fun as well as promote exercise."
And she said a 'big thankyou' to their mystery benefactor: "Whoever you are, you have made a big difference in the lives of our children, thank you."
, Cork caters for 97 children aged between 4 and 18 years. There are seven classes for pupils with a moderate learning disability and seven classes for pupils with a severe or profound learning disability. School principal, Anne Hartnett, explained: "Most of our children have additional needs, eg, hearing impairment, visual impairment, behavioural needs, wheelchair users and complex medical needs. Every single child in this school will benefit from the exceptionally generous donation of €50,000."
"We aim to spread it around and invest in the Literacy Program, improve the Tranquility garden (where we remember our pupils who have passed away) create a Sensory Loop around the car park for the children's walks and lastly get one additional member of staff trained to drive the school bus so the children can experience more trips out. This donor has truly lifted the hearts of all of us in St Paul's — thank you so very much!"
caters for pupils aged 12-18 with extra needs and school principal is Don Golden. He was only too pleased to 'hand over' their surprise cheque to some pupils for a look. He said: "We were delighted and surprised to receive a check for €50,000 from an anonymous donor. We would like to thank whoever it was that sent the money, and to let them know that it will go to good use. We plan to use the money to help with the running of our two school buses and to buy equipment and technology for our students."
The range and diversity of the donations is worth noting. Among the groups which got a €50,000 cheque is Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery.
Treasurer and search coordinator, Christy O'Donovan said that while they rely on donations all the time this one came completely out of the blue as it is "substantially larger".
He explained that the money will be put to very good use: "We are looking to extend the number of volunteers. It costs quite a bit to kit out new volunteers and train them up. For example a dry suit costs around €1,600 and a life jacket is €325. We have 21 volunteers at the moment and we are aiming for 25+. We will also upgrade our equipment and we have to pay for insurance and boat licences too — it all goes towards helping us to bring closure families and friends of missing people."
St Killian's on Cork's Old Youghal Road was also on the list of lucky recipients. The school has 104 pupils and 17 teachers and 39 SNAs. Principal Sue Lenihan was super excited with the windfall. "I was at a conference and heard of other schools getting a cheque and was wishing we had something like that and then we got a letter too and our wish was granted. It's great. We have had fundraisers with parents of course but never anything like this. It's brilliant. We are looking at using it for sensory equipment and for our outside space."
Matthew Oakes, Pieta spokesperson, said: “At Pieta, we provide all our suicide and self-harm prevention services free of charge to those who need our support. Over 80% of our funding comes from the generosity of the public, and donations like this one make a significant impact. We are truly grateful for the donor’s generosity.
To give you an idea of the difference this makes, a suite of therapy costs for one person costs around €1,200, and every €12 we receive enables us to answer two more phone calls on our support line. This donation will help us be there for even more individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts or those bereaved by suicide across the country.”
Meanwhile, this isn't the first time the Cope schools have been given fabulous gifts from anonymous donors. In September 2021 the four schools each were given €22,500 from an anonymous donor.
And then in November that year Scoil Bernadette got a further €10,000 from a mystery benefactor.
Solicitor Simon Murphy, a partner at JRAP O'Meara based on MacCurtain Street, had the happy task of distributing the donations. He confirmed that the donor does not wish to be identified.
It is believed to be the same donor as in 2021 but no other details are available.
Mr Murphy said their firm didn't charge any fees for handling this work and was delighted to facilitate the windfall distribution.