This article is from page 22 of the 2014-08-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
IN A bid to avoid closing the county’s only Rape Crisis Centre again in 2015, supporters for the charity have begun its biggest fundraiser of the year. The Dainty Daisy Contest, described as the “Lovely Girls competition for Men”, will raise funds for the Rape Crisis Centre in Ennis and all funds raised will stay in the county.
Already 12 men have signed up for the contest in the Treacys West County Hotel on November 1, and the organisation is looking for more men in high heels to take on the challenge.
Rape Crisis Services in the midwest, including Clare, costs an estimated € 570,000 each year. While the Government provide € 450,000 towards the service, manned mostly by volunteers, a shortfall of € 120,000 must be found through fundraising.
This year the shortfall could not be met and the Clare service, which depends 100 per cent on fundraising, has to close for the month of September.
Friends of the charity said raising funds for the charity is difficult, as those that use the service who want to give back by supporting fundraisers often cannot do so publicly.
“Raising funds for the Rape Crisis Centre is a challenge, least of all because those that use the service do so in confidence and often without the knowledge of even their closest friends and family,” explained Cllr Mary Howard, who has been a volunteer fundraiser with the organisation for a number of years.
“That is one of the things we struggle with as a centre because, in the vast majority of cases for organisations that are charities, people would be very open about using something perhaps like a cancer support service or a hospital where perhaps their child was ill or other charities that support illnesses or conditions. The vast majority of our clients and the 85 people that are coming through the mid-west every week, and that does not include those on the phone, the vast majority of these people will not go public and say they were sexually abused as a child or an adult and ‘I am going public to raise money for this organisation’,” added Verena Tarpey from Rape Crisis Centre Mid West.
She said while funds for the centre are being cut, the need for the service is increasing especially since the recession.
“Often a new crisis brings up a sexual abuse as a child and it needs to be dealt with,” she said.
“We are trying to change the public perception of who the rape crisis centre is for an who goes through it. It is for ordinary people who may have been sexually abused or have had some sort of sexual violence in the past.”
This is the third year of the Dainty Daisy competition and it is hoped that it will raise much needed and urgent funds for the Clare Rape Crisis service.
Those wishing to support the fundraiser can do so by sponsoring a “Daisy”, attending the event on November 1 or nominating their own “Dainty Daisy” to take part.
Anyone wishing to support the Rape Crisis Service in Clare can contact Verena at verena. tarpey@rapecrisis.ie or Mary at maryhoward2009@gmail.com or by contacting