Gorey firm helps The Red Door raise €7,000 for autistic children
Horizon Financial donated €1,000 and sponsored Pub Quiz prizes
Gorey firm Horizon Financial has helped raise €7,000 for The Red Door School for Autistic Children. The company, founded by Hughie Doyle and Michael McGovern, donated €1,000 to the charity, as well as sponsoring two raffle prizes which dramatically drove ticket sales for a charitable pub quiz that raised over €6,000 for The Red Door.
The Red Door school for autistic children is a registered charity (CHY 14457) and is run by the Learning Centre for Autistic Children Ltd. The Red Door is the Learning Centre’s first project, and it started in 2001 with four children. It now operates out of Sandyford, where 12 children attend on a full-time basis.
Teaching is on a one-to-one basis under an Individual Educational Programme (IEP) and centres around the science of Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) where children learn by intensive behavioural reinforcement. The IEP also includes Speech and Language therapy, ocupational therapy and communications systems.
“This approach, while very effective, is not cheap and Department of Education funding only covers approx 60% of the schools costs. Fund raising is vital to the survival of the school and particularly corporate patronage like that offered by Horizon, central to ensuring that the kids receive the kind of support they need to give them any hope of progressing into mainstream settings and living any kind of independent life,” said Nicholas Baird, from The Red Door.
For more information on the School, ABA and Autism please see www.thereddoorschool.com
Horizon Financial was initially approached to sponsor The Red Door’s annual golf outing in 2006 and has continued to support the charity ever since.
“We feel it is more important to offer our support to The Red Door in the current economic climate than it has ever been, we always sponsored The Red Door’s annual golf outing but this year we decided to get more involved and give a more generous donation to this worthwhile cause,” says Hughie, from Horizon Financial.
“The committee of The Red Door has worked very hard to make this school such a success. At Horizon we look forward to helping The Red Door for many years to come.”