Sylvia’s Eggcellant Adventure

Back to the egg…

aving raised over €66,000 for various charities over the past 15 years, Kilcoole’s Sylvia Scanlon is thinking big for her 50th birthday next week.

We’re talking 1,000 Easter eggs big.

“I’ve set myself the target this year of raising that many eggs for the patients of Newcastle Hospital,” says Scanlon. “It was after my sister won a giant egg and we donated it there that I thought, wouldn’t it be great if every single person there got an Easter egg – especially after the staff told me that most of the patients never get one.”

Traditionally, such a fundraiser would be run from Sylvia’s Kilcoole home but, having moved to sunny Enniscorthy, her good friend Ann Prendergast will help co-ordinate this year’s charity drive. By placing a table outside her home at no.8 on Kilcoole’s main street, selling arts, crafts and bric-a-brac.

“Because of social distancing, we have left the table unmanned,” says Sylvia. “We have an Easter Bunny bucket there, so people can donate Easter eggs, whilst there’s also an Honesty Jar for those who want to buy anything from the table. The people of Kilcoole have been amazing over the past 15 years, and the amount raised over that time reflects their incredible generosity.”

Beyond the 1,000 Easter eggs for the patients of Newcastle Hospital, any money raised will go to the Bray Women’s Refuge and to St Vincent de Paul.

“Because of the 5km travel restrictions, we’re hoping to get other people around Wicklow involved. The more the merrier, of course, when it comes to fundraising, and I’ll be looking into setting up similar initiatives through out County Wexford too.”

With her battle-cry of Give A Little, Care A Lot & Make A Difference, Sylvia is hoping to make this year’s charity fundraiser bigger and better than ever. In spite of the lockdown.

“It’s been a year of lockdowns now, and we just want to celebrate spring now, and that sense of the sun coming back out. And make 1,000 people at Newcastle Hospital very, very happy…”

If you want to get involved in Sylvia’s Easter Egg Appeal, you can get in touch directly on sylviascanlon2018@gmail.com.