Premier Inn and Children’s Health Foundation are delighted to announce they have partnered for the next three years to support sick children attending Children’s Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres. Through staff and customer fundraising, Premier Inn will aim to raise €30,000 by 2027 in order to fund rehabilitation treatment for children across Ireland with chronic and disabling pain.
The partnership has been unveiled as Premier Inn continue to grow their number of locations in Ireland and will help connect their team members across its six hotels (five in Dublin and its recently opened Cork hotel) with a shared fundraising goal. The new partnership complements Premier Inn’s long-standing 12-year partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital which continues to raise funds in their UK hotels.
Children’s Health Foundation raises vital funds to support sick children and their families in Children’s Health Ireland hospitals and urgent care centres at Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght, and Connolly. It has been instrumental in driving cutting-edge research into childhood illness and treatment while also supplying funds for state-of-the-art facilities, advanced equipment, and enhanced services for Ireland’s most critically ill children.
The project, in the Complex Pain Service at Children’s Health Ireland, aims to set up a programme of intensive rehabilitation for children who experience chronic and disabling pain. The planned multi-disciplinary approach has been proven to help sick children suffering from pain. It will be the first programme of its kind to offer this intensive level of rehabilitation in Ireland. There are numerous benefits to the programme including reduced pain, improved movement, a general increase in quality of life; all of which have been shown to help with returning to normal day-to-day routine. Children can go back to playing and enjoying their childhood. The reduction in pain can also help with improving school attendance for the children suffering from chronic pain.
Orlaith Mohan attended the partnership launch along with her mother, Fiona. When she was 11 years old, Orlaith attended Complex Pain Service at Children’s Health Ireland. Thanks to the team, Orlaith, now 17, was able to return to her regular school timetable having had to be absent for weeks at a time due to pain. She has returned to normal life, being able to go to concerts and spend time with her friends. She now dreams of working in the film industry.
Also in attendance was another patient, nine-year-old Chloe, and her family. Chloe was excited to see herself in the posters that will appear in the six Premier Inn locations in Dublin and Cork to promote the charity partnership. Guests staying at any of the Premier Inn hotels in Ireland will be offered a range of ways to donate, to help children like Orlaith and Chloe, as well as plenty of opportunities to support Premier Inn’s fundraising activities.
Chief Executive of Children’s Health Foundation, Fionnuala O’Leary said; “It’s fantastic to announce our partnership with Premier Inn. Children’s Health Foundation relies on the vital support of companies like Premier Inn. We are extremely grateful for their support in helping sick children and their families. To help children with chronic pain is to help them return to a normal life. They can go back to attending school regularly, and playing with their friends, giving them back their childhood. Premier Inn is making this possible and we look forward to many years of this partnership to come.”
Managing Director for Premier Inn UK & Ireland, Simon Ewins said; “We are really excited that we have this amazing opportunity to support such a pioneering project alongside the Children’s Health Foundation and help them raise funds for such a vital service. We know that our team members are passionate about supporting charities close to their hearts and the Children’s Health Foundation is a great example of how we can better serve the communities where we are operating with our expanding Irish network of hotels. I know the teams will put their hearts and souls into coming up with some great ways to raise money and I can’t wait to see how this partnership develops over the coming years.”
