On Wednesday, 8th June, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Colm Kelleher, accompanied by Ann Doherty, Chief Executive of Cork City Council, made the annual courtesy call of the Lord Mayor to the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, who was accompanied by Mrs Susan Colton.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Colm Kelleher accompanied by Ann Doherty, Chief Executive, Cork City Council paid a courtesy visit to Bishop Paul Colton, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross and his wife Susan at their residence, the Bishop’s Palace on Bishop Street, Cork. Pic: Brian Lougheed
The Bishop and Mrs Colton entertained the Lord Mayor and the CEO to afternoon tea. There was an engaging discussion of contemporary issues in the city of Cork and the region, about the partnership of the Church of Ireland with much that is happening in civic and community life, including the work of the Cork City Community Response Forum on which Bishop Colton served throughout the covid pandemic, and on which he continues to serve as it addresses the needs of Ukrainian newcomers to Ireland.
Cllr Colm Kelleher is the twenty-fifth Lord Mayor of Cork to make a courtesy call to the Bishop and Mrs Colton.
The RTE DIYSOS; Build for Ireland television programme presented by Irish radio and television personality Baz Ashmawy has come on board with the Kingston Charity project to refurbish houses at Kingston College
‘When the war started in Ukraine I sent around an email widely to test the waters,’ said Bishop Paul Colton, ‘as I wanted to see if there would be interest in helping us to raise money to restore these houses for Ukrainians arriving in Ireland.’
Bishop Colton explained what happened next:
I was just testing the waters, but instead what happened was amazing. I didn’t ask for money in the email, but within just over a week €200,000 was raised. Then we had the donation of €200,000 from The One Foundation and many more donations in the weeks since.
Equally, if not more important, Charlie Daly and a group of colleagues and friends, who had been alerted to my email by Cobh parishioner Andrew Bird, came forward and said that they would offer their services voluntarily to restore some of the houses and to raise even more funds.
Billy Skuse, secretary of the charity, and I met them all at Kingston College and this featured in a report in The Irish Times the next day. The producers of ‘DIYSOS; Build for Ireland ‘ saw the report and the photos. Before we knew it we were all meeting in Kingston College again, this time on the Wednesday of Holy Week. That set the ball in motion towards where we are now. This in turn opens up many possibilities with community support and for the Trust to advance its work for Ukrainian refugees in this way.
Needless to say all of us who are involved in Kingston College are absolutely delighted and we warmly thank the ‘DIYSOS; Build for Ireland’ producers and team, and we are all looking forward to working with them.
We join with their appeal (see below) for volunteers.
Baz Ashmawy comes on board with houses for Ukrainians project at Kingston College, Mitchelstown, Co Cork
DIYSOS announced their involvement on their page on Facebook as follows:
DIY SOS, The Big Build Ireland is returning to Cork for a very special two-part episode based in Kingston College, Mitchelstown.
This is an incredibly special build and we are extremely excited to be able to announce this mammoth endeavour.
From the 5th – 13th July, Baz and some very familiar faces will once again be rallying the troops, but this time it is to renovate and retrofit six beautiful houses to provide much needed temporary homes for Ukrainian refugees.
Kingston College is a community of 31 small terraced houses, which have been providing housing to people in need since 1761. These beautiful houses are grouped around a large square with a chapel as it’s central focus, and have been in Trust since the mid-eighteenth century to three Church of Ireland Bishops, who have been maintaining them via a fund. One of these is Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Dr Paul Colton, and it was he and diocesan secretary Billy Skuse who, having watched the plight of the Ukrainian people decided to put out an appeal to try and raise money to do up 8 of the vacant houses to house refugees and their families.
The support they received was beyond expectations and the generosity of the local community and beyond has been mind-blowing. There are currently thousands of Ukrainian refugees in temporary homes in Cork, mostly organised by the Red Cross, and they need our help to turn this build around quickly.
The DIYSOS team have joined forces with the Bishop and the local community, and together we plan to draw on their support as well as the good will of the Irish people, to turn these run down houses into homes for refugees in the immediate future, with a view to eventually reverting them back to their original use -to provide housing for those in the local community who are in need.
We live in strange times, but us Irish are known for our charitable nature, so come on Ireland…. once again, let’s do this!
A Trades day will be on the 16th of June. More information on this will be posted soon.
What is needed?
For Trades:
We are looking for….Groundworkers, Ticketed Machine Drivers, Carpenters, General Labourers, Plumbers, Electricians, Roofers, Slabbers, Blocklayers, Painters, Plasterers, Joiners, Pavers, Landscapers, Tilers, Catering, Cleaning and Registration Volunteers – you name the trade, we need you there!
We also need local companies who can assist us by supplying goods and materials for external works:
Grab hire, skips, waste management, lawn turf, soil and other landscaping products.
For Catering:
We need to feed our volunteers so we are looking for catering companies or local restaurants to provide breakfast rolls, lunches, dinners and snacks to fuel our 100 + hardworking troops on site every day.
For Design Interiors & Exteriors:
We need a number of joinery companies, stoves, extensive homewares, wallpaper, paint supplies, indoor and outdoor furniture, plants, trees, lights and accessories.
For Site Support:
We need Site Security, Van drivers, Transport companies, Portaloos, Marquees, Accommodation, and Printing Facilities…
If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch via email or phone (diysoscork@gmail.com / 083 013 9827) and include your:
* NAME
* NUMBER
* EMAIL
* Details of your TRADE or what you can SUPPLY.
Come on Ireland… let’s do this together!!
Some of the volunteers who met with Bishop Paul Colton (6th from right) and Billy Skuse (secretary, 4th from left) at Kingston College, including Charlie Day (on bishop’s right) and Andrew Bird, (3rd from right). Pic. Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision
Doris Bryan, Principal of Templebreedy NS, writes:
Prize Giving is a very special event in our school year, attended by parents, family and friends. Our Prize Giving is not just about academic excellence. The focus is on our motto “To be my best and to do my best”. We celebrate example and effort and each child’s individual learning. Progress is rewarded, and every child gets a prize.
We also have some beautiful cups and shields which have been presented to the school over the years. Some of these are presented for progress and effort. Other characteristics that are awarded are kindness, enthusiasm, care of the environment and an award for the most promising student, as well as some hockey awards which are presented for progress and sportsmanship as well as exceptional skill.
This year everyone was entertained to a wonderful musical performance by the children, prepared and accompanied by Mr. Peter Stobart, and the prizes were presented by hockey coach Suzanne Black.
The pupils of 4th, 5th and 6th class performing “The Rhythm of Life”The pupils of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class performing “The Lord bless you and keep you”. Junior and Senior Infants performing a selection of songs. Doris Bryan, Principal of Templebreedy NS, Mike Hodder, Board of Management Chair, and the Rev. Isobel Jackson, Rector of Templebreedy Union.
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The Very Rev. Susan Green, Dean of Cloyne, writes:
A service of pet blessing was held on Sunday, 29th May in Cloyne Cathedral. It was a fabulous, warm and sunny day and there was a collection of dogs, a few cats, and a very brave little hen called Tammy Wynette. People also brought photographs of animals who were not able to be present and we had a wonderful drawing of a pet fish as well.
The outside door and the door to the nave were left open and, as the sun shone, everyone sang ‘All things bright and beautiful’, in grateful thanks for the joy which animals bring us. We prayed for their wellbeing and each pet and their owner received an individual blessing. All the animals behaved very well and joined in occasionally with approving barks. There were prayers for working animals, wild animals, endangered animals and all who seek to help them. The service ended with a commitment based on the prayer of St Francis.
The service was followed by refreshments, for both animals and humans! Many thanks to all who lovingly prepared the Cathedral and provided the refreshments, and a big welcome to those who were part of the congregation for the first time, both with two legs and with four.
On behalf of the Kingston Charity Trust, which owns charity housing at Kingston College in Mitchelstown, County Cork, and has been providing residences for people in need since 1761, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton, has announced today that the appeal has recently received a significant boost to the fund-raising efforts to restore and renovate some of the houses to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
The trust has received a donation of €200,000 from The One Foundation.
Kingston College, Mitchelstown, County Cork – a charity which has been providing housing, under the auspices of the Church of Ireland, for people in need in the region since 1761.
Commenting on the magnificent support received from The One Foundation, the Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton, who is chairman of the trustees, said:
We are immensely grateful for this hugely generous donation from The One Foundation which arrived in response to newspaper reports about our hope to restore these houses at Kingston College in Mitchelstown, County Cork. Although 23 of the houses are happily occupied, our charity did not have the funds to restore eight vacant houses in recent years and now, thanks to this generosity, as well as the generosity and voluntary efforts of countless others, we will be in a position to press on with the work.
Every Euro of this will be needed, and more, as, when we began to examine the condition of the vacant houses, the work necessary was much more extensive than we ever anticipated. This donation is one of those lifeblood moments that has given our project practical hope, and on behalf of the trustees, as well as those who will ultimately benefit, I thank The One Foundation very sincerely.
In coming days we hope also to be able to make announcements about even more very encouraging practical support for this work which we have taken on.
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