Four-year-olds Cormac McCarthy, Nora Burke, Lydia Hession and Cormac McGarry launched Focus Ireland’s inaugural ‘Key to a Home’ day which aims to raise €80,000 in vital funds to help the charity cope with the great demand for its support services and housing.
A total of 1700 households in Waterford city and county are currently on waiting lists for a new home, according to Focus Ireland, which this week launched a new campaign to combat homelessness.
And the scale of the problem has been illustrated by a Gracedieu-based family of 12 that have been rendered homeless following a house fire over two weeks ago.
Ann-Marie Ward and her 10 children, aged between 2 and 19, have been sleeping outside their fire-damaged three-bedroom home in Logloss since September 17th.
The Ward family have been sandwiched into their camper van at night following a fire caused by coal falling out of the open fire place located in their small sitting room.
The fire in turn spread rapidly, forcing the roof over the sitting room to cave in. Thankfully, no one was injured.
