Ireland's only dedicated service for supporting children who have lost a parent through death or separation has called on the Government to support their planned new building.
Since it opened its doors ten years ago, the Children's Grief Centre in Limerick say they've helped over 1,300 children aged between four and 18.
However, the centre's director Sr Helen Culhane said they are now running at full capacity - and currently have 207 children on the waiting list.
Speaking today at a conference marking their tenth anniversary, she said the organisation needs to raise money for a new building to meet an overwhelming demand for its service.
Explaining what the centre does, Sr Culhane said: "What we do is we listen... we provide a variety of interventions to give the child an option of expressing their feelings."
The interventions differ based on age groups - such as play for younger children, or workbooks around separation and bereavement for children aged 6-13.
Sr Culhane noted that 4% of the budget currently comes from the Government, and 96% comes from the general public and Sr Culhane's own congregation.
She observed: "It needs to be funded, if we're serious about helping our children.
"With my own background - having been a social worker and a play therapist - there is little to no services for children. We need early intervention."
Sr Culhane added: "[The new building] is going to, I'm told, cost around €4 million. But we are extremely hopeful that we will raise that money - and hopefully that the Government will come on board and help us with the building of it."
