CRC rejects report it is to axe Santa Bear appeal

The new chief executive of the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) has rejected a newspaper report last week which claimed the charity had axed its flagship fundraising initiative, the Santa Bear appeal, following the salary top-ups controversy of last year. The CRC was the subject of speculation over top-up payments to staff before it emerged in January that the clinic's former chief executive Paul Kiely was given a €740,000 payoff to speed his exit from the organisation, due to his large pay package.

Following the controversies, a new board was appointed in May and occupational therapist Stephanie Manahan became chief executive in June.

In an interview with The Irish Times, Ms Manahan has moved to clarify a report in another newspaper last Friday headlined "CRC axes bear appeal".

She said the initiative would not be taking place this Christmas but would return next year. “Santa Bear is very much a part of our future and will play a role in the future of our fundraising,” she said. “I need to be very clear about that. We don’t intend terminating or axing it. It’s just that for this year it would not be the right thing to do.”

Most fundraising initiatives had not taken place this year and the Santa Bear appeal would also be taking a year off as the charity sought to inject “clear leadership” and “good governance” into its management structure.

“How I feel about it – and I know I have the support of the chair and the board – is that the organisation at the moment is focusing on its internal systems,” she said. “It’s focusing on getting good governance put in place. We need time to focus on all of that and get it right.

“We will then re-look at our whole fundraising strategy in line with the overall strategy of the organisation. There will still be some little things happening, but the bulk of our fundraising in the past would have been things like comedy nights and golf classics, but at the moment most of those have not gone ahead.

“There would have been a calendar of events throughout the year and most of those events have not taken place. “A lot of the reason for that is there was no clear leadership. The new board was only [put] in place in May of this year and I only took up my position in June, so the organisation has been in a bit of a hiatus from the fallout from last December when the board and the chief executive all resigned.”

Asked whether public opinion towards the CRC following the controversies had played a part in the decision, Ms Manahan said: “You’d be amazed at the amount of people who have contacted the CRC to say how disappointed they were it wasn’t going ahead.

“We got some incredible emails of support from people who have supported the CRC for years and people who know and are connected with the real meaning of the service and the value of the work we carry out,” she added. “They know the contributions also go towards the very good work that goes on in the CRC.” She said the organisation would review the situation regarding the Santa Bear appeal next year. “We’re very proud of the tradition that Santa Bear has held.”