BORN out of a family tragedy, the Jack & Jill Foundation has grown to become a lifeline for some 2,500 families since its start in 1997.

It was set up in 1997 by Jonathan Irwin and his wife Mary Ann O’Brien in memory of their son Jack who suffered a brain trauma shortly after birth. This left Jack developmentally delayed, and it shattered the dreams and hopes of his parents. Jonathan for many years was the driving force behind Goffs and the Phoenix Park, while Mary Ann, the founder of Lily’s Chocolates, is the daughter of Phonsie and Ann O’Brien, and the niece of Vincent.

In spite of their trauma, and the medical advice at that time that there was no support for Jack outside of the hospital, the family brought him home and cobbled together a homecare plan with the help of five local nurses from their neighbourhood. Jack lived at home for 22 months and died on 13th December 1997 in the arms of his favourite nurse, having taught his family and friends what the best homecare looks like and how short lives can have such a long lasting impact.

His parents vowed that no other family would have to walk this difficult care journey alone. Jack’s homecare plan was the blueprint for the Jack & Jill Foundation’s unique model of child and family centred care that gives the parent carer a break from the intensive home care regime required.

This work is ongoing and requires substantial funding. The demands on the services are huge and every penny, or cent, counts. This month, April, is one of the most important of the year as it is the time for INCOGNITO, an initiative that in its first three years has already raised some €300,000, enough to provide 19,000 hours of nursing care and support to these families.

The reputation of INCOGNITO has grown to such an extent that this year’s event, in part taking place on Friday, April 24th starting at 10am, is set to become a truly global occasion, spurred on by the current crisis caused by coronavirus. The pandemic has meant that INCOGNITO has had to go online, and this will hopefully increase the audience for the fundraiser.

This week I caught up with the woman behind INCOGNITO, Lucinda Hall. Resident in Ireland now for more than two decades, she is married to Robert and the couple live in Co Kildare. She explained how she became involved with this particular project.

“The idea was planted by my hairdresser of all people, who used to go to London for three or four days every year, camp in the street outside the Royal College of Art, and queue for RCA Secret which is an annual event on the same lines, to raise money for the college. He loved doing it and said it was a wonderful way of getting a piece of art, maybe by a famous artist and maybe not, for £50, having trolled through the whole collection beforehand and maybe spotting the David Hockney or the Damian Hurst!

“He never did get those artists but always came back with something he liked. It took a bit of time for my penny to drop, but I explained it to our good friend Jonathan Irwin as ‘maybe’ a good fundraiser for Jack & Jill - and the rest is history! Jack & Jill already had a good database of artists because they’d done some events a year or two before, so we started with those and it went on from there”.

Lucinda went on to explain what motivates her to drive INCOGNITO forward, and how useful her former career in London has been. “I like putting together a project, and getting it right on the day, but this time with very little rehearsal involved. As a theatre producer in London, it was all about gathering threads: the director, designer, actors, stage management and more, and getting it right for the opening night, and good enough for people to actually continue to buy tickets!

“On this there’s a lot of background work that has to be done. The cards come in from the artists, then they have to be individually photographed for the website, numbered and packaged. This is all done by a wonderful team of my friends sitting round a table in February, for five days non-stop, and miraculously they’re still my friends. Then they have to be put on the website, which is way beyond my comprehension, but luckily we have a great team for that too”.

INCOGNITO 2020 has grown again, as Lucinda explains. “We have over 1,800 pieces on offer this month, so it is the biggest so far, and I have to say I think it’s the best – the standard is fantastic. We put a call out in October to everyone who did it the year before, and from that the momentum grew and we got people joining up from the most extraordinary places: Alaska, Pakistan, Tasmania, Turkey, and the USA. Everyone seems very keen to do it, as after all a picture 15cm by 10cm won’t take anyone very long. And if the most famous rock star in the world can find time…..!”

Bruce Springsteen, and his wife Patti, are just two of the world-famous artists and personalities who have contributed to this year’s collection. Helen Steele, Paul Costelloe, Duda, Maser, Alice Maher, Bono, Martin Mooney, Dan Chester, Mick O’Dea and Ruthie Ashenhurst are others among over 1,000 artists from 10 countries contributing work, while who would not want to own a piece of work by Robert Ballagh, Abigail O’Brien, Jason Byrne, Susan Cairns, Peter Curling, Stephanie Hess, Don Conroy, Mo Kelly or Vincent Devine, to name a few?

While some of these works are worth many, many multiples of €50, the work they are supporting is simply invaluable. Get online now and take your time to peruse the work on offer, and then set your diary and your alarm clock for April 24th.

Information

INCOGNITO 2020 is now, via a virtual gallery, open for viewing. Supported by William Fry, the art sale has been adapted to avoid problems with physical queuing in the current climate, with 1,812 postcard-size pieces of original artworks appearing online at www.incognito.ie. They are available to view until April 23rd, after which the sale will go live the following day at 10am.

Each of these original art pieces will be sold online to the public on a first-click, first-served basis for €50, with a maximum of three pieces per person. The twist is that no one knows the identity of the artist until after they buy the piece. The proud new owners of the pieces will receive them by post for a €5 postage and packing charge.