About the DANONE BIG TODDLE FOR BARNARDOS

The DANONE BIG TODDLE FOR BARNARDOS invites toddle groups from junior schools, crèches, Montessori's and families to do a simple half-mile sponsored toddle.

Over the past six years the DANONE BIG TODDLE FOR BARNARDOS has seen 90,000 children taking part. Over 3,500 groups have organised sponsored toddles and together have raised an amazing €1.8 million, making this the biggest fundraising event for Barnardos.

Where the money goes...

The entire cost of this website and all the pack materials has been covered by our sponsors Danone, so all funds raised go directly to support Barnardos work.

And your help really makes a difference to toddlers like Stephen.

Stephen’s story

Stephen lives with his parents and older brothers in a council house on a sprawling estate.

The roads have no names and numbers have been removed from doors in order to confuse the police when they come in search of stolen cars.

Crime is high in the area with many of the neighbours serving prison sentences for drug-dealing, weapons possession and theft.

Stephen’s parents have never done time. But they’re young, unemployed and untrained. They live on social welfare, disability and child benefit.

Stephen’s dad has had a few jobs, but he never manages to hold them for long. When employers find out about his depression and dependence on street drugs, they change their minds about him.

Every morning when Stephen arrives at Barnardos, his head is lowered and his eyes are fixed on the bowls of cereal, all ready on the table.

His body is rigid with tension. As soon as he reaches the table, he pours milk into a bowl until it overflows and then starts to eat rapidly with one hand while gathering cereal from other bowls with the other.

Sometimes he complains of a pain in his tummy, but it usually subsides after he has eaten several bowls of cereal.

Stephen’s day improves after breakfast. He likes to play with the sand, driving trucks through sand castles.

On better days, Stephen’s vivid imagination and advanced verbal skills are obvious. He sings, rhymes, listens to stories and makes up his own. Those days are rare, but wonderful.

Through it all he loves his mam and dad. But that doesn’t stop him sometimes getting tearful when the bus goes up his road to bring him home.

Sometimes, Stephen tells stories from home. He tells a grown-up when he has seen his mam cry or his dad hitting her. He tells stories about his dad’s drinking and sleeping all day long. He confides, sometimes, about how scared he can be. But he always asks the grown-up not to tell his mam what he has said.

Stephen’s home is one of thousands. Stephen and his family are held under a blanket of poverty, unemployment, addiction, mental illness and lack of education and parenting skills. Stephen, too, is enfolded in this blanket.

He is a bright, creative, funny child whose sadness and anger overshadow his every gesture and every word.

Stephen has lived a pretty full life already. He’s seen and experienced a lot. Enough to make him distrustful, cynical and angry. Enough, maybe, to cause long-term damage.

And Stephen, by the way, is five.

This work would not be possible without the help of the thousands of toddlers in Ireland who have taken on the challenge to support Barnardos and the work we do with children like Stephen.

Register now if you would like to take part in this year's DANONE BIG TODDLE FOR BARNARDOS.