Jack and Jill is a nationwide charity that funds and provides up to 100 hours per month of in-home nursing care and respite support to families caring for children, up to the age of six, with severe learning disability often associated with complex medical needs.

Typically, these children may be tube fed, oxygen dependent, may not sleep, take seizures, need a lot of medication and require around-the-clock care. Understandably, their parents can be exhausted and need a break, which is where Jack and Jill comes in. Jack and Jill’s service operates seven days a week, with no means test, no red tape and no waiting list. Another key part of the service is end-of-life-care for all children up to the age six, irrespective of diagnosis, empowering parents to take their child home to die at this most difficult time.

Jack and Jill was founded by parents Jonathan Irwin and Mary Ann O’Brien in 1997, based on their experience of caring for their son Jack. Jack and Jill's mission is to empower the families it supports to care for their child at home, by funding and delivering nursing, respite and advocacy. The charity must raise over €7.5 Million in 2024 to keep this vital service going, with approximately 22% coming from the HSE.

Jack and Jill currently supports 419 families in communities across Ireland. This support is often described as ‘a gift of time’ or a ‘lifeline’, giving parent carers a break from their 24/7 care regime, safe in the knowledge that their child is well cared for at home, where they belong.

OUR VISION

An Ireland where every family has the care and support, they need for their child, when and where they need it.

OUR MISSION

Empowering the families we support to care for their child at home, by funding and delivering nursing, respite and advocacy.

OUR VALUES

1. Child and family centred care - we are a kind and caring organisation, with the child and family at the centre of everything we do.
2. Compassion - we act with compassion and empathy, always.
3. Community - we believe in standing with, and for, the communities we serve, working together as one team to make a real difference.
4. Courage - we are determined and innovative in giving support, confidence and hope to our families and our team.
5. Integrity - we show integrity by being honest, trustworthy, and respectful.

For more information, visit www.jackandjill.ie