We are delighted to announce that our friend Orla Fitzgerald has decided to run the Waterford city marathon in support of Mother Tongues. This will be Orla’s 7th marathon in the past 5 years. Orla volunteered at the Mother Tongues Festival in February, and helped us greatly during our FundIt Campaign to raise funds for our first festival. On 30th June Orla will go “the extra mile” (no jokes!) and she will run for miles in support of Mother Tongues.

Mother Tongues is run by volunteers and relies on donations and fundraising events to offer its services, which include talks for families, one to one consultations, visits to schools and preschools and other outreach activities.

If we reach the first milestone of €500  I will be able to support Mother Tongues in setting up an online helpline and a walk-in service for families who are concerned about their children’s language development.

If we reach the second milestone of €1000 I will be able to support Mother Tongues in starting parent and toddler groups in various languages (European, African, Asian).

If more than €1000 is raised, Mother Tongues will also be able to establish an arts engagement programme that will allow families to visit museums and take part in activities in their own mother tongue.

Your support would mean a lot to Mother Tongues and to the many bilingual and multilingual families in Ireland.

To donate, please visit https://ie.gofundme.com/mothertongues

PS. When Orla is not eating ice cream, she is training really hard for the marathon! Wish her luck!

Francesca & the Mother Tongues Team