The women of the Marlay Guild ICA craft group have felt the impact of lockdown during Covid-19, like everyone else. Separation from children, grandchildren and friends has been isolating and lonely. But even without their weekly meetings, they have continued to support other charities with their crafts, making scrubs for a South Dublin nursing home, knits for premature babies and very special bags for children with cancer to store their Beads of Courage.

Beads of Courage is a programme run by Childhood Cancer Foundation Ireland, a charity founded by and led by parents of children with cancer. It is an international programme that has been proven to decrease distress, increase positive coping strategies and helps children find meaning in illness. Around 218 children (aged 0 – 19 years) are diagnosed with cancer every year.

As Mary-Claire Rennick, a voluntary Director of Childhood Cancer Foundation Ireland and the parent of a childhood cancer survivor, explains, a diagnosis of childhood cancer has a devastating impact on the entire family. 

“Families living with childhood cancer are all too familiar with the isolation that the wider world has faced on and off since March. Unfortunately, it is the reality for families of children with cancer for years during treatment, due to the serious risk of infection. One of the programmes we run is called Beads of Courage®. It enables children to tell their story using colourful beads - symbols of courage that mark the milestones of their particular treatment path.”

“The average length of treatment for childhood cancer is 3-5 years and children will have many interventions along the way. The beads mark each chemotherapy, each blood transfusion, each surgery, each moment of courage. As you can imagine, they gather quite a few beads during these years, giving them something tangible to help explain their experiences. There are also sibling beads for any brothers or sisters who are interested in completing the programme. The bags that the women in the Marlay Guild ICA craft group have been making for us allow the children to store their beads and they love the colourful, fun fabrics,” explained Mary-Claire.

Delivering fabrics during lockdown and having sewing machines collected for much-needed servicing, kept the members in touch with each other while some were cocooning and others were living alone. Although they won’t be able to meet in person again for some time, they have recently started weekly Zoom meetings as a way to link in and have that all-important social contact.

For more information on Beads of Courage and Childhood Cancer Foundation visit www.childhoodcancer.ie.