Donegal counselling service ‘Hughie’s Corner’ has been awarded €2,000 under the 2024/25 Parent Peer Support Fund.
The funding aims to support the development and promotion of various parent peer support initiatives across the country throughout 2025.
Hughie’s Corner is a community-funded child, adolescent and adult counselling service based in Carndonagh.
It was set up in memory of Hugh Simpson Callaghan who passed away suddenly in 2011. The Gleneely schoolboy was eight years old.
Hughie’s Corner is a sanctuary for children to speak to professional counsellors at a low-cost.
Counsellors cover a wide range of issues from bereavement, separation, anxiety, defective concrete blocks etc.
The charity fundraises to subsidise the sessions and to cover the overheads – they rely 100 per cent on donations.
The 2024/25 Parent Peer Support Fund will support 42 projects nationally in 2025 including five in the west and north west region.
Research suggests, parents and those in a parenting role, are more comfortable seeking support from their peers. Parent peer support initiatives promote healthy parenting skills, an increased sense of empowerment and a feeling of belonging. Parent peer support initiatives are particularly helpful for parents of children and young people who are coping with anxiety, depression or other mental health issues and for parents of children with complex care needs.
