Charity named in honour of crash victims to hold fundraiser

A charity set up in memory of Lisa Callan and her four schoolfriends who died in the Navan schoolbus crash tragedy four years ago will benefit from a fundraising concert by the Celtic Tenors in June. The Lisa Callan & Friends Foundation and Seneschalstown GFC will benefit from the concert, which will take place in the grounds of the recently opened Ballymagarvery House, at Balrath, on Saturday 6th June at 8pm. The show will also feature The Toronto Showband. The Lisa Callan and Friends Foundation has been set up to honour Lisa Callan and her four friends, Deirdre Scanlon, Aimee McCabe, Claire McCluskey and Sinead Ledwidge who died tragically on 23rd May 2005, while returning home by bus from school in Navan. As a result of this tragedy, Lisa Callan"s father, Vincent, felt a need to transform the deep sorrow felt by all the families into something positive and of benefit to others. The charity was set up two years ago and will help a number of deserving causes both at home and abroad but in the past two years has been helping street children of South Africa. The venue for fundraising concert in June, Ballymagarvey House, is owned by Lisa"s father Vincent, who bought the former flaxmill village in happier times, with his daughter, Lisa, in mind. 'I bought it with Lisa in mind as she was very interested in architecture and old buildings and I was planning on restoring it. It is ironic now that we are holding a charity event in her memory there,' he said. The main house on the Ballymagarvey estate, Ballymagarvey House, was the residence of the Osbourne family was was a typical 'strong house" of the late 1700s with its battlemented tower. The grounds still contain the restored remains of an 18th century flaxmill village. The main house has been restored into five-star quality accommodation and the seven courtyard cottages in the grounds have all been transformed into luxury accommodation. The Lisa Callan and Friends Foundation has made connections with South African charities called 'Children Rise" and 'Umthombo". These charities work with the street children in South Africa, many of whom have been orphaned by HIV/Aids and who suffer from the disease themselves. For these children, the streets and local dumps are their home, where they scavenge for food and shelter. Many of these children could not make their way to the Children Rise/Umthombo drop-in centre for help. In its first year, the foundation raised funds for a mobile outreach unit, which provides foodstuffs, clothing and first aid facilities for the children. Last year they topped up supplies to that service and contributed to the wages of the nurses working on these vehicles. Workers in the charity are former street children who are now helping youngsters experiencing the problems they encountered. Local volunteers, who are based in Dundalk, Ardee and Navan, run the Lisa Callan and Friends Foundation.