Sinéad Fidgeon: Providing 'The Perfect Gift' to families

The Anglo-Celt Community & Sports Awards, in partnership with Mannok and Kingspan, will take place this Thursday evening in the Cavan Crystal Hotel. Sinéad Fidgeon from The Perfect Gift is a finalist for Volunteer of the Year...

I absolutely love what I do but to think that someone recognises what you do is lovely also.” That’s what Sinéad Fidgeon said about her nomination for Volunteer of the Year.

The mum-of-five has been operating ‘The Perfect Gift’ a charity she founded to support mums and families of babies born with Down Syndrome. They are presented with a newborn gift basket, hand delivered by Sinéad.

Of course, the personal delivery service to the hospital bed or home of a newborn means that Sinéad can talk to parents and share with them some of her own experience of being mum to Grace (10) who was born with Down Syndrome.

“Mums of babies born with Down Syndrome don’t often hear ‘congratulations’ but instead they might hear ‘I’m sorry’,” Sinéad told the Celt.

“When Grace was born, I found there were a lot of support groups out there for teenagers or adults, but I know – because I’ve been there – that you want to speak to other parents with babies when you’re at that stage.”

Following her own experience, Sinéad and a friend decided to start their welcome pack idea and are just about to issue the 1000th gift pack.

She explained that each basket is personal to the mum they’re sending it to, like the mum who had twin babies last month, or for the baby who has to remain in hospital for health reasons or to the families from Ukraine she has been in touch with.

“I’ve had two requests today,” Sinéad said, “one from an auntie in Wexford and another from a mum in Dublin. Social workers, midwives, relatives all make contact.”

All baskets are hand delivered so Sinéad gets to cuddle a lot of newborns but the parents she is visiting get to tap into her wealth of experience and joy as a proud mum to a child with Down Syndrome.

“I absolutely love it!” she enthuses, “I tell the parents ‘Congratulations! Celebrate your perfect baby’ and ‘this is an amazing journey you’re starting out on’ and I tell them having Grace has enhanced all our lives in so many ways.”

Sinéad says often when she meets the parents of the newborns later in their journey they relay back to her that they don’t know why they shed so many tears or worried about things, which proved to be no issue in the end.

The Perfect Gift baskets are tailor-made welcome packs for mother and baby, and each contains a book with contributions from around 35 families Sinéad has met through her charity and their life-affirming accounts of how parenting a baby with Down Syndrome changed their lives for the better.

“Getting to parents early is key,” Sinéad says. “Letting them know there is support and we’re here is what they need at that time.

“And, sure it’s like therapy for me,” she adds.

“My friends play golf, but I hug babies with Down Syndrome, and I absolutely love doing it.”

With special thanks to our partners and sponsors in these awards - Mannok, Kingspan, Sherry FitzGerald Declan Woods, Cavan Crystal Hotel, Dovida, Kyte Powertech, CICS Silo Clean and Joe Rowley Windows