Chernobyl campaigner Adi Roche to launch Westport’s Home of Hope project

Adi Roche to launch Westport’s Home of Hope


Áine Ryan

CHERNOBYL Children’s Project founder, Adi Roche will launch Westport’s very own Home of Hope at an open evening at the Castlecourt Hotel on Thursday, May 13, at 8pm
Last year, the people of Westport and its environs helped to raise €50,000 to build the Home of Hope in Belarus. Children and adults bought and decorated special Bricks-4-Hope, while local artists donated their work for an art auction. The money from these projects, combined with the ongoing fundraising work of the local branch, means that Westport’s Home of Hope is now very close to construction.
The Westport Home will give children, abandoned in Belarus, the chance to have a near-normal family life. As well as providing the actual physical house, the project also recruits and supports a loving foster couple.
“The Home of Hope initiative helps ensure that the cycle of abandonment which plagues Belarus is halted because the children living in the homes can be confident of security, health, education, love and much needed attention,” said Geraldine Butler, Westport committee member. 
“We are delighted that Adi can travel to Mayo to launch our new Westport Home of Hope. It could not have been possible without the support of the entire community and we hope everyone can come along to celebrate their huge achievement,” she continued.
At the launch, Adi Roche will also outline the overall work of the Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI), which has delivered over €80 million in direct and indirect humanitarian aid to the Chernobyl region since its establishment in 1991. 
A key part of the CCPI’s work is its rest and recuperation project, which brings children to Ireland each year. Volunteer families from Achill to Louisburgh have participated in this programme for 15 years, and a further ten children will visit in the early summer.