NEW ERA FOR BARRETSTOWN CHILDREN'S CHARITY
July 2007

AIG Barretstown and Beyond Outreach Programme launched
at Summer Open Day

Barretstown received a welcome boost today as leading international insurance organisation American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced a $500,000 challenge partnership with the Co. Kildare based charity for children with serious illnesses. Barretstown's Summer Open Day, attended by hundreds of families and supporters, provided the backdrop for the funding announcement.

The American Ireland Fund
The AIG Barretstown And Beyond grant has been matched with a further $500,000 from generous donors through the support of The American Ireland Fund. This $1 million partnership will enable the charity to extend its life-changing activity programmes from its site in County Kildare, Ireland, direct to children with serious illnesses throughout Ireland and across Europe.

Barretstown's Open Day gave families a unique taste of the programmes that the children's charity has run for over 12 years. Since its founding, Barretstown has brought its programme of Therapeutic Recreation - 'Serious Fun' - to more than 13,000 children and family members from 23 European countries. Using challenging activities such as horse-riding, drama and outdoor pursuits, Barretstown's medically-endorsed programme is designed to increase a child's self-confidence and independence after long stays in hospital. However, now it is operating near capacity.

The three-year AIG Barretstown and Beyond project will help to ensure that 1,200 more children with cancer and other serious illnesses experience the Barretstown programme by providing regional outreach programmes, taking the Barretstown concept directly to sick children in their home countries.

AIG Barretstown and Beyond will kick off this year with two three-day pilot programmes - one each in Ireland and the UK - serving a total of 120 children aged seven and over. This will expand by 2009 to programmes across Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Spain.

Martin J. Sullivan, AIG President and CEO, said: "AIG is committed to scaling up the services available to help children and families deal with serious illness and disability. Barretstown's work has such a profound impact on those who have access to its programs, and we are proud to support the extension of these critical services to hundreds more children across Europe."

Mary Conway, Barretstown's interim CEO, said: "Our unique programme is recognised by the medical community as playing an important part in a child's recovery from serious illness. Paediatric specialists are increasingly looking at how serious illness affects a child's psychological and social well-being and their quality of life going into adulthood. More and more children need our services and it is fantastic that AIG is helping us bring our best practices across Ireland and Europe. We would also like to thank The American Ireland Fund for the support they have given to this project."

The partnership announcement was initially launched at The American Ireland Fund gala reception in New York on February 1, 2007.