To say that we have never been prouder to be in the heart of city and serving our wonderful Birmingham Irish diaspora is an understatement to say the least.

Thankfully, the start of 2021 saw the well anticipated vaccine roll out, and as safety guidelines were strictly followed and precautions firmly put in place, we were delighted to have most of our main services partially reopen within just a couple of months alongside all of our vital COVID-19 projects, that still serve as a lifeline to vast amounts across Birmingham to this day. After such a traumatic and inconsistent year, we were so very relieved to regularly see the dear faces of all of our clients once again.

Since March of this year, many new children’s outreach projects have also launched, taking the numbers of children being empowered emotionally to hundreds, something we are incredibly proud of and feel is absolutely imperative amidst of the repercussions of the pandemic.

With the help of many wonderful organisations and individuals in our community, we also collected over 400 chocolate eggs to gift to patients at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital this year to make Easter that little bit brighter.

As Spring evolved into Summer, we saw our Tuesday club and eventually our three Dementia Centres begin to safely reopen and our newest, St Ambrose Barlow, open for the first time. Along with our Weekly Ramblers Group, Silver Surfers Technology workshop and Online Coffee Mornings, they worked wonderfully to keep loneliness at bay for copious numbers of individuals in our community. 



To express our monumental thanks to the wonderful people at the Irish Youth Foundation for their unwavering support for us during the pandemic, our CEO, Maurice Malone, undertook the challenge of completing the Vitality Big Half Marathon in August. Through this, Maurice raised a sensational £5,000 for the Irish Youth Foundation, which will aid massively in supporting crucial projects for young Irish individuals across our country, who desperately need help.

As Autumn drew nearer and the thoughts of the festive season arrived, we knew only too well of just how many families were facing devastating financial repercussions of the pandemic this year, and that there would still be endless children left without a present under the tree.

Last year, we delivered brand new toys to over 780 Birmingham families in early December, and due to the incredible generosity of so many wonderful organisations, our staff are busy delivering to hundreds of families to make Christmas morning magical this very minute.

Without the absolute abundance of glorious people and organisations helping in our mission, it simply would not be possible to achieve the sheer amounts we have this year. Therefore, we would like to extend the most enormous thank you to our magnificent funders, the kindness of our beloved Birmingham Irish community, and the awe-inspiring, tireless dedication of our fellow organisations.

We would also like to share a monumental thank you to all of the extraordinarily generous individuals, organisations and establishments below, as well as every single person who has donated physically or online to our appeals. 

As we approach the end of this year, we want to wish you all the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year. With each passing day, month and year, our courage and resilience grow stronger, and we will emerge as a community, to finish this battle together, once and for all.

May God bless you all. 

Warwickshire GAA

Bishop Challoner Secondary School