Turning wood into gold

IN THE MIX Willie Creighton shows off the cement mixer made entirely out of wood by the Craobh Eo Woodturners.

Wood turners raise much-needed funds for, and awareness of, organ-donation

Ciara Moynihan

Every year, respected wood turner of national renown Willie Creighton and a group of other skilled craftsmen from Mayo’s Craobh Eo Woodturners create fabulous pieces of work to raise much-needed funds for worthy causes. Past beneficiaries have included Mental Health, Enable Ireland, Pieta House, the Centre for Alzheimer’s in Ballindine and Cancer Mayo.
This year, their chosen charity strikes a chord with Willie’s personal health journey. Willie has kidney disease and gradually declining kidney function. The proceeds raised will go to the Irish Kidney Association.
Willie, who hails from Aghamore, is the National Chairman of the Irish Woodturners Guild, and nine others have produced an incredible replica of a Belle cement mixer made entirely out of wood. It is being exhibited at various locations around Mayo before its final destination of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Turlough.
Proceeds from public contributions for the exhibitions – collected in an aptly kidney-shaped  collection box – will go to the Irish Kidney Association, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. When the art piece is eventually sold some of the proceeds will also go to the association also.
The highly accomplished wood turners have also donated several smaller beautiful crafted-wood items this year to the Mayo branch of the Irish Kidney Association for auction or raffle. These   include a bowl, clock and candle holders.
The Craobh Eo group presented a carved wooden Gaelic football to the Mayo team on winning five in a row, with the proceeds from fundraising going to the Centre for Alzheimer’s in Ballindine.
Cancer Mayo was the charity that benefited from the Chapter’s previous activity, a full-size Raleigh bicycle made entirely out of wood, which now takes pride of place in the foyer of Mayo University Hospital.

Craobh Eo
The Craobh Eo Woodturners, established in 2004, are a chapter of the Irish Woodturners Guild. Located in The Old School House, Aghamore, the group’s members are from all walks of life and from all over the county.
Their aim is to promote woodturning by giving new and experienced woodturners a platform to enjoy their passion. They do this by holding monthly get togethers where they can compare their ‘turnings’ and share their experiences, as well as organised seminars and demonstrations. They also hold workshops that are open to outside woodturners, who are welcome to join them.
“The work we do as a group is very therapeutic, and it’s nice to be able to help others with the fruits of our labour,” Willie explains. “When you put your hands to work, your brain gets to work!”

Willie’s story
A father of three, Willie runs his own wood turning and carpentry business. During his career, he has worked on various important projects, including the restoration of the 1916 Boland’s Bakery building in Dublin and the ceiling and roof at St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina.
“I was diagnosed in 2007 with kidney disease, but thankfully my condition was spotted early enough so that its progression could be slowed down by medication and adopting lifestyle and dietary changes. However, it is to be expected that I will be in end-stage kidney failure and, like almost 2,000 other people, will end up receiving dialysis treatment.
“I know people who have benefited greatly from organ donation. I would encourage people to carry a donor card, as God forbid, anything might happen [and] they might be able to give something back and save lives. An Irish phrase which I think sums up the importance of giving something back when translated is ‘We will get back eight times from God, if we give a little of what we’ve got back’.”

Forget them not
Approximately 550 people in Ireland are awaiting life-saving heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. Thanks to the gift of organ donation, almost 3,500 transplanted people in Ireland are enjoying extended life today.
The focus of Organ Donor Awareness Week – which this year takes place from this Saturday, March 31, to Saturday, April 7 – is to raise awareness about the ongoing and ever-increasing demand for organ transplantation, which relies on the public for organ donation.
Its key message is that families need to talk to each other and keep the reminders of their willingness to donate visible by carrying the organ donor card and permitting Code 115 to be included on their driver’s licence.
Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. For the week the association’s volunteers will be out on the streets and in shopping centres throughout the county, distributing organ donor cards while selling ‘forget-me-not-flower’ emblems, brooches, pens and shopping trolley discs.
All proceeds will go towards the Irish Kidney Association’s aid for patients on dialysis and those patients fortunate enough to have received a kidney transplant.
Meanwhile, the Mayo craftsmen’s hands will not be idle. They will soon be starting a new project for another charity to benefit next year: An intricate wooden ferris wheel.
 
Organ Donor Cards can be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association, tel 01 6205306 or Free text the word DONOR to 50050 or visiting the Irish Kidney Association website at www.ika.ie/card. For more on the Craobh Eo Woodturners and their work, visit craobheowoodturners.com.