Martine's Spanish fundraising walk with friends to give back to Clann Mor

Former Director of Service with Clann Mór, Martine Healy, will walk the Camino to fundraise for the Navan-based charity organisation where she worked for 24 years until her retirement last year.

Martine and partner Eric Boyle are among a group of 22 walkers who will complete a 115km section of the famous Spanish walk in September over five days walking from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela to raise funds for Clann Mór which provides residential and respite care to adults with intellectual disability.

Since handing over the reins to Clann Mór's new CEO Joe Lynch last year, Martine has been enjoying line dancing, swimming, amateur drama, travel and much more and laughed the she doesn't know where she found the time to work.

Martine says she wanted to give something back for the wonderful years she had the pleasure of working at Clann Mór and is taking on the Camino challenge with her partner Eric.

“This will be my one give back to the company for 24 years of having the privilege of working with people who have intellectual disabilities and their families. This is my way of giving back whatever I can give back in terms of financial support.”

Each of the 22 participants undertaking the Camino challenge must raise €2,000 and Martine and Eric will host their first event- a night of theatre- in McHugh's Pub, Drogheda on Thursday, 14th May. Performed by Skerries Theatre Group, there will be two shorty play- 'Shelf Life' and 'Mother Daughter'

Both Martine and Eric have been involved with Skerries Theatre Group for many years and 'Mother Daughter is directed by Eric. He directed it for the Skerries One Act Festival last year and it has done the festival circuit.

'Mother daughter' is an investigation into what happens when we discover that our parents are flawed human beings and that at some point, sooner than we think, they are suddenly going to disappear from our lives. Intimate and funny, this play presents a lifetime of conversations, condensed into under an hour.

'Shelf Life' is directed by Lisa Buckley. Lili Hutchens and Karen Parker, playing 'Left' and 'Right', move in unison with the ease of siblings, and the play’s central reveal is best left undisclosed. Martine described the play as witty, original, irreverent, short and, by the end, unexpectedly moving.

For tickets (€15) ring, text or WhatsApp Eric on 086-8311882.

For anyone who has been thinking of doing the Camino and would like to do it for a great cause, Martine said there may still be time to register but would need to contact Clann Mor as soon as possible.

Martine spent 24 years with Clann Mór and oversaw the organisation as it grew from having just one house and two staff and an annual budget of €35,000 to having 12 houses, a staff of over 70 and a budget of €3.5m when she left last year.

The fundraising is to purchase a new house.

“We provide residential and respite services and really people don't realise how valuable the service is for families. Both for residential places and for respite. It gives them the breathing space to go again.

“For anyone who gets a residential place, one couple said nobody realises until they are in their shoes what their daughter getting a residential place has meant to them.”

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