As a supporter of Bóthar’s work in the past, I know you are more aware than most people of the crisis in the charity in 2020. I am sure you felt very let down and, on behalf of the new Board of Directors, I would like to express our sincere regret and apologies.
I joined Bóthar in January 2022 and have been working closely with the CEO, Aideen O’Leary, to embed proper governance and financial controls across the organisation. I am happy to report that we are now compliant with the Charities Governance Code. We have also recently published our first set of clean, audited accounts, underlining the changes that have taken place. As a new Board of Directors and management team we are fully committed to ensuring that Bóthar continues its life-changing work. I would like to thank Aideen for her phenomenal work over the past few years during very difficult times. Aideen worked for Bóthar in Africa for many years, so she has first-hand experience of seeing the positive effects of the work that we do for families and communities. In November 2020, Aideen was asked to take on the role in order to ensure that proper governance and financial controls were implemented at Bóthar. Now that this has been achieved, Aideen will be moving on to a new challenge. We wish her well and will always be grateful for her work on behalf of Bóthar.
Aideen’s successor is Ailish O’Reilly, who will take over as interim CEO in January. Ailish, who has vast experience in both the corporate and charity sectors, will continue the vital work we do with the people who most need our help. Your generosity in the past has helped change people’s lives by giving them the means to provide for themselves and their families. We want to continue the vital work we do with the people who most need our help. In November we sent in-calf heifers to Kosovo. Now, we are ready to do more – and we need to do more. So, I would like to ask you to consider supporting the work we do again. To make a life-changing donation, please call us on 1800 268 463 or donate online at www.bothar.org. We do hope you will support the work we do again.
Thank you and I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas.
