Laois Arch Club benefits to tune of €4,660 from quilters’ raffle

MEMBERS of the Laois Arch Club were ‘delighted’ to be presented with a cheque for €4,660 from the Laois Quilters following a raffle of their centrepiece pieces from their recent quilt art exhibition, which was displayed in Mountmellick library during the month of June.

The presentation was held in the library on Tuesday 29 June, where Laois quilter Pat Walsh presented the cheque to Laois Arch Club vice-chairperson Mary Heaney and PRO Orlagh McCrory on behalf of the group.

Each year, the quilters hold an exhibition of their amazing work in the library and every second year they fundraise for a local charity.

This year, representatives of the group said that they chose the Laois Arch Club because of the fantastic work that they do with people with additional needs. The piece, titled Winds of Change, measures 8ft x 7ft and the winner, Mary O’Donnell from Newbridge, also attended the proceedings.

Before the presentation, both Mary Heaney and Orlagh McCrory told the Laois Nationalist that they are delighted about being presented with the funds and they thanked the Laois Quilters on behalf of the club for choosing them to fundraise for.

Mary said: “This is an absolutely huge gift for our association because we are totally voluntary. We cater for people with special needs from the age of 16 to 80 and upwards. We have to fundraise every year to continue to do all of the fun projects and trips that we run for our members and this wonderful present will take a lot of pressure from us. This is money that we can spend on our members that we don’t have to go and find for ourselves.” When asked what the Laois Arch Club does, Mary said: “We’re a friendship club with around 130 members. Each month on the last Thursday of the month, apart from two months in the summer, we have a disco for our members in the Midlands Park hotel which is always a joyful and fun social event for everyone. We also organise day trips for our members and two months ago we had the most perfect day in Athlone. Next month, we are heading off to Limerick with a group of over 40 members and volunteers for a full weekend away.” Orlagh is the planner of the upcoming weekend trip. She said: “The members love our trips away. On each of the three nights we will have music and dancing in the hotel. Also, on Saturday we're going to a sheepdog demonstration in Coy Claire and there is a heritage centre there, too, so we’ll have lunch there and see the sheepdog trials.

“On the Sunday we’re having a fun fitness class in the hotel. The Greenhills hotel in Limerick are very good to us and they look after us so well. It’s like a home away from home and they give us a great rate. This is not just a break for our members, it also gives their parents or carers a break, too, and a lot of them would avail of a weekend away themselves while we’re away.” The Laois Arch Club relies on fundraising and donations. People who wish to support the club can donate to their PTSB account by using BIC: IPBSIE2D and IBAN: IE04IPBS99072230004509.