Generous little Ashbourne girl donates communion money to save her play space

A generous little girl from Ashbourne donated her communion money to a cause so that her and little brother “could have somewhere to play.”

Big-hearted Charleigh Kavanagh (8) from Millbourne made the selfless gesture to help with the plight of her estate who is fighting to save the only green space children have to play on from development.

Earlier this month An Bord Pleanála granted permission for three large apartment blocks on the estate’s only green space.

The Millbourne Resident’s Association set up a GoFundMe page as they pledged to take their case against the decision to the court calling for a judicial review.

In a touching act of generosity thoughtful Charleigh who attends St Cronin’s N.S in Swords said she wanted to do something so that her and friends in the estate “would have somewhere to play football and run around" and gave the entire €320 she received from relatives and friends from her big day to the cause.

As a result of the little girl's kind act, the campaign has just passed the €12,000 mark.

Her proud dad Ian said how thrilled he and wife Ciara is with her daughter’s good deed:

“She was planning to have a party for her communion but that was cancelled because of restrictions and she wanted to buy a Nintendo Switch with her communion money so because the party didn’t go ahead we decided that we’d treat her to it and she could keep the money.

“Me and her mam were talking about the situation with the green and she overheard and said would the money I had for the Nintendo Switch be any use towards it.

“We were taken aback but said if she really wanted to do it she could.

“It is a massive amount for anyone to give let alone an eight-year-old but she was adamant that’s what she wanted to do.

“We are extremely proud.

“Her and her brother are down at the green every chance they get and she’s really worried that it is going to be taken away.

“But she also understands there is a need for housing and said she doesn’t want to see anyone homeless but she wants somewhere for her and her brother and friends to play.

“It is the only place they have to play, other than that it’s just a busy through road they have and your heart would be in your mouth with the speed of cars travelling through.”

The schoolgirl says she hopes that her gesture will make a difference:

“I was feeling a little sad that our green area might be taken away because that’s where my friends and I play so I thought it would be a good idea to give my communion money to help try and save it.”

The kind-hearted act is not going unnoticed around the neighbourhood as Ian also dad to Josh (5) explains: “The amount of thank yous she has been getting on the green and on the road has been unbelievable, she’s like a little celebrity but she doesn’t want any fuss she’s just very happy that she has done something to help others.”

Charleigh’s big day didn’t go off without a hitch however with the communion being brought forward as lockdown was implemented in Dublin last week but that didn’t stop the inspirational little girl from making the best of it according to proud dad Ian.

“She made her communion last Friday. It was all a bit of a rush, she goes to school in Swords and it was supposed to happen on the Saturday but when it was announced that Dublin was going into lockdown from midnight they changed it to the Friday night.

“We got a message at 11.30am on the Friday to say that it was going ahead at 6pm that evening, so it was a bit hectic.

"Unfortunately we couldn't do anything to mark the occasion but we still had a lovely time and will celebrate when we can.”

Ian said he is over the moon at how thoughtful his daughter is and is hoping she will inspire others to follow her lead.He said:

It’s just brilliant that her first thought was to give back to the community, she might even start a little trend."

Millbourne Residents Association commented that:"We were astounded when we received the phone call that Charleigh wanted to donate. What an amazingly generous thing to do."She truly is a special girl and we are so grateful. Thanks to her amazing donation, we passed the €12,000 mark in a little over a week. We cannot thank her enough."