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Who We Are

Candle of Grace is a charitable organisation set up in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

Our main activity is hosting groups of Chernobyl children from Belarus in the summer for much needed rehabilitation rest. You will find more information about our Rehabilitation Programme here.

We fundraise all year round to be able to cover the costs of hosting children, as we invite them to Ireland with all expenses covered so that their Belarusian families don’t have to pay for anything.

We regularly send aid (clothes, toiletries, nappies, food etc) to a number of orphanages and nursing homes in Belarus and Ukraine. Those places are in dire need of basic supplies and we try to help them out as much as we can. You will find more detail here.

Every penny we get goes towards funding our Rehabilitation Programme for Chernobyl children and other charitable company activities. Our members are not paid for their work and we count on our wonderful volunteers to help us out with fundraising and to be on hand with various activities for Chernobyl kids when they are here.

Our organisation is not funded by any Government Department and is not affiliated with any National Association or Federation. Our funding comes from various fundraising activities and we rely heavily on the generosity of the public.

We run a Russian Language and Culture Class as a fundraising initiative. Children of school age have an opportunity to learn or improve their Russian language skills as well as learn more about the country and its traditions. Our fees are kept to a minimum to make sure all interested families can avail of the classes. Art, vocal and ukulele classes have been added since we got our premises in Islandeady. You will find more information on the classes here.

We do not employ any staff at present nor do we plan to employ any staff in the future. Company members provide their services on a voluntary basis and by law are not permitted to be employed by the company or be paid any wages/remuneration by the company. Any members of public getting involved in the company activities will do so on a voluntary basis as well.