Newbridge non-profit Kare cared for 550 in 2023
Casey Brennan celebrates the offical presentation of her Level 2 QQI award by Kare's HR Manager Austin O'Sullivan, at the Kare QQI Awards Ceremony in the Keadeen Hotel recently
Kare, the Newbridge-based non-profit that provides supports and services for individuals with intellectual disabilities, has published its Annual Report for 2023, which revealed it supported 550 people in its day, residential, outreach, respite and other services, operating across Kildare and parts of neighbouring counties.
The report, which was launched at Kare’s AGM at its Athgarvan Road HQ on Wednesday (26 June), provides an update on the charity's achievements and financial health for the year.
Highlights include the first ‘My Emotions Month’ initiative in February 2023, focused on promoting and enhancing wellbeing within the organisation.
Summer 2023 saw four athletes supported by Kare competing in the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.
A key fundraising event was the ‘Show You Kare’ campaign which helped to revamp the play area of Kare’s Early Years preschool.
According to the financial statement, both Kare’s income (€34.46m) and expenditure (€33.99m) grew in 2023, relative to the increase in the scale and volume of its services.
The majority of Kare’s funding is provided by the HSE, with other essential support from donors and local communities also helping to develop and improve the charity’s services.
“In 2023, it was our privilege to support 550 adults and children across our 40 locations,” said Kare’s CEO, Deirdre Murphy.
“We helped them to get where they wanted to go – be it the 1.1 million kilometres we travelled together, the 44 new jobs that were started, the 10 independent homes moved into, the five Olympic medals and 14 Gaisce awards, or the countless trips, projects, activities, challenges, new experiences and connections,” she revealed.
“This was all made possible by our 720 staff members and the commitment and compassion they show every day, and the trust and collaboration of the people we support and their families. We look forward to continuing our work and seeing even more positive results for 2024.” Kare was founded in 1967 by a group of parents and friends of children with intellectual disabilities who set out to ensure that children with disabilities could live at home with their family and be educated locally.
Over the years the organisation has expanded the range of services and supports on offer to meet In addition, Kare is Patron to St. Anne’s and St. Mark’s, both special schools in the Newbridge area.
