Ardnashee 16,000km Charity Cycle: 'The staff are superheroes in my eyes and it's magical to watch'

At the age of four Finn was diagnosed with autism and during his time in Ardnashee nursery he's learned to communicate verbally and has 'become a happier boy' according to his mum.

He's just one special child who will benefit from the ongoing 16,000km charity cycle in aid of Ardnashee School and College - a fundraiser Aine believes is a worthy one in the absence of the school's PTA activities due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Ten amateur cyclists have been clocking up the miles over the past eight weeks in attempts to raise £10,000 for the Racecourse Road school for children with special educational needs.

So far they've travelled an incredible 15,247km collectively and are well on course to reaching their fundraising total thanks to the generous donations from the Derry public and beyond.

The group travelled around the homes of some of the children who will benefit from the fundraiser which concludes on August 30th next and Finn made a special poster to show his support for the cause during an emotive journey across the city last week.

Finn has recently completed nursery and his mum, Aine knows only too well the outstanding work done by the school and its staff and she explains how they have changed her families' lives for the better.

Indeed, she believes her son is now 'a happier boy because of the school' and she's forever grateful for the teachers who 'have the best interests of the children at heart'.

"Around this time last year we would've been going for his induction class and at that point I would say he was nearly non-verbal," explained Aine.

"As you can see today he's chatting away and interacting with everybody, high fiving all the cyclists and thanking them for all they have done.

"I really could only credit that to the school. As parents they lead us to the tactics and strategies that we should use in the house but it all came from them. They're absolute experts at what they do.

"Finn is a happier boy because of the school. He had an autism diagnosis during his nursery year at four years of age.

"As a family, we can communicate much better with Finn. We started off using wee cards he would exchange to tell us the things he wanted. Finn now uses language to do that and it has completely improved our home lives no end.

"We're finding out the things he likes and doesn't like and we're really getting to know him. It's just such a lovely journey and it's really just down to Kelly and his classroom assistants who even during Covid were fantastic.

"We talked daily and they sent us wee videos of things we should do. There was never any ambiguity, they were just so clear.

"They have the children's best interests at heart - they're just superheroes in my eyes.

"Our whole life is completely different because of the school. We did try mainstream for a week and quickly realised it wasn't for us.

"Finn at the time needed more adaptive and specific strategies to help him to speak.

"He was angry at things because he couldn't communicate. His mood and patience, his ability to make friends - those skills you need in life are there now because of Ardnashee."

The charity cycle has raised an amazing £8,589 so far and with still five weeks of the challenge remaining the cyclists have asked people to help them to the finish line.

"It's just a pity all the fundraising has been shelved because of Covid but people have really used their initiatives and the kindness of people who donated really does your heart good to see people coming together for a place like Ardnashee.

"It's been magical to watch. And it's been so lovely as a parent to be able to take part in some things too there's just such a nice feeling of community around the school as well."

If you would like to help them reach their target, please donate to a fantastic cause here at the Go Fund Me page which goes directly to the school's PTA.