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Little Stars Autumn Newsletter 2026

Because of you, children like Alice get the care, comfort and support they need – today, and every day. Here’s what that’s made possible this year, and a few ways to be part of what’s next.

Read our Little Stars Autumn 2026 ↓
Your support in action

See what your support makes possible.

More than 700 children living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn’s Disease, receive care each year at CHI hospitals and urgent care centres Thanks to our generous supporters, we can help fund vital resources that make a real difference.

Specialist equipment
& training

A specialist intestinal ultrasound machine has been funded for the Gastroenterology Department, and clinical staff have received specialist training.

Quicker, less invasive
assessments

Children with IBD can have assessments that are quicker and less invasive than traditional methods.

Making hospital
visits easier

Support also helps provide resources used by health play specialists to make hospital visits that little bit easier.

Alice during a hospital visit

Alice’s Story

You’d be so proud of Alice today. She takes it all in her stride and just gets on with it.

Alice is 11. She loves swimming, tennis and hip hop dancing. She has been attending at CHI Crumlin since she was a toddler after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and now receives infliximab infusions every five weeks.

Today, she has what her mum Yvonne describes as “a very full life”.

“She’s very funny. She’s a really tough little cookie. She takes all of it in her stride and is a very good kid. She has grown with it and has very much accepted it.”

As one of our kind and generous supporters, we wanted to share Alice and Yvonne’s story with you.

Thank you for being part of the Children’s Health Foundation community and for the care and generosity you continue to show sick children and their families.

Read Alice’s Full Story
Kindness in Action

Kindness looks different for everyone. A run, a skydive, a cycle, a kitchen tea, a well-loved book – each can become a way to support sick children and their families. Here are just a few of the wonderful people doing exactly that.

For every fundraiser. For every act of generosity. Thank you.

Trick or Treat

Make a Difference This Halloween

On Friday 23rd October, families, schools, crèches, workplaces and communities across Ireland will be turning Halloween fun into support for sick children.

And there’s a very real reason why that support matters.

At CHI Crumlin alone, more than 700 children living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease are cared for every year.

Funds raised through Trick or Treat help support groundbreaking paediatric research, patient and family support, and life-saving equipment for children and families who need it.

Thanks to compassionate supporters, specialist equipment such as an intestinal ultrasound machine has been funded for the Gastroenterology Department at CHI Crumlin, helping children like Alice with IBD receive quicker and less invasive assessments.

So whether you’re planning a party at home, dressing up at school or getting your colleagues involved, your Halloween fun can help make a difference for sick children.

And getting involved is easy. Once you sign up, you’ll receive access to your fundraising page and a digital supporter kit with posters, stickers, decorations, games and everything you need to bring your Halloween event to life.

Sign up Now
Trick or Treat for sick children – Friday 23rd October 2026
Tesco Ireland

Bringing advanced neurosurgery closer to home

For children who need complex brain procedures, every step of their care matters.

Thanks to the generous support of Tesco Ireland, CHI at Temple Street now has a new neurosurgical robotic system designed to help clinical teams carry out highly specialised procedures with greater accuracy and precision.

The technology will support the 3–5 brain tumour biopsies carried out at Temple Street each month, including procedures in difficult-to-reach areas of the brain. It will also help establish a specialist service for children with severe epilepsy.

For some children, that means a major change in how their care is delivered.

Until now, children needing a procedure called SEEG had to travel by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital. Bringing that service into Temple Street means they can receive this specialist care in the same hospital where they have their other assessments and tests, helping to reduce travel, waiting times and some of the added stress on families.

During an SEEG procedure, clinicians may need to place up to 20 electrodes in precise areas of the brain to map seizure activity and help plan future treatment.

Thank you, Tesco, for helping bring advanced care closer to the children who need it.

Gifts in Wills

A gift for today. A legacy for tomorrow.

Paddy Farrelly, from Co Meath, recently made a generous gift of €10,000 to support sick children, something he wanted to do during his lifetime.

But Paddy’s care for sick children won’t end there. He has also chosen to remember Children’s Health Foundation with a gift in his Will.

“I want to help sick children, and knowing my gift will help put a smile on their faces makes me happy.” — Paddy Farrelly

Paddy says there wasn’t one particular experience or personal connection to the hospitals that inspired his decision.

He simply wanted to help.

And for supporters who feel the same, leaving a gift in your Will can be a lasting way to continue the kindness and care you have shown throughout your life.

Once the people closest to you have been looked after, a gift of any size can help future generations of children and families by supporting new treatments and services, important comforts for children and families, and world-class research.

If you would like to have a confidential conversation about leaving a gift to Children’s Health Foundation, please contact [email protected] .

Find out About Gifts in Wills
Paddy Farrelly
Little Stars supporter survey – we'd love to hear from you

Supporter Connection Survey

You’re reading our first digital edition of Little Stars – and we’d love your thoughts.

For the first time, Little Stars is fully online, giving us more opportunities to share stories about children, families, hospital teams and the difference your kindness helps make.

Now, we’d like to learn a little more about you. What inspired you to support sick children? What matters most to you? And what would you like to hear more about from us?

Your answers will help us make sure the stories and updates we share are the things you actually want to hear about.

Our short supporter survey takes just 2 minutes.

Take our supporter survey

Thank you for sharing your thoughts – and for everything you do for sick children and their families.

Your kindness is part of our community of care.