Building a safe & peaceful place of refuge for women & women with children who've been abused in the privacy of their own homes.
Mission and vision
We are so passionate to see women and children who have been directly affected by domestic violence walk in freedom.
Our mission is to open a residential refuge, and to provide all of our services on one campus. We work with communities in Dublin City and the greater Dublin area to bring hope to women & women with children who are subjected to domestic abuse.
Community work
We bring practical help by way of food, clothing, temporary help with utilities/rent/birthdays/Christmas and any other appropriate needs. We offer help with court orders and court appearances. We advocate with social housing agencies and private landlords and any other government departments as needed. We provide short-term emergency accommodation. One of our key areas of support is walking alongside women to support, to bring hope, to open opportunities for personal growth and development through:
· Facilitation of counselling
· Life coaching course
· Links to employment agency
· Links to crisis pregnancy agency
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Our vision is to create a safe, peaceful, loving place of refuge to women & women with children who have been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused in the privacy of their own homes.
Meet The Team
Martha McGee
Founding Director and CEO
Martha is a mother and grandmother. She has been a ministry leader in a large Dublin city-centre church with over five years of experience in women’s ministry and pastoral care leadership. She is a CCI accredited minister. She holds an MA in Transformational Leadership from IBI & York St. John University. She holds Certificates in Recognising and Responding to Domestic Abuse in the Workplace and Reflecting on Coercive Control and Domestic Abuse. Before going into ministry, she worked in banking mostly in Governance and Compliance, and holds a Diploma in Compliance. She is the Author of "Not Created to Hide, A Journey to Hope", a book of poetry written to raise funds to help women who are struggling in abusive relationships.
Micheal O'Neill
Board Chair
Michael joined The Wellspring of Life Refuge as Chairman of the board in April 2022. Michael is a highly qualified and experienced Engineer and manager. He is a Chartered Engineer and Member of Institute of Engineers Ireland. He has more than 30 years of experience working with Housing and Development aspects of Dublin.He is currently a technical Advisor in WALK and group facilitator at Jobcare. He is also an Appeals Reporter for Housing Development Agency.
Dr David Weakliam
Board Member
David is Director of the HSE Global Health Programme and has worked in global health and development for more than thirty years. David manages collaboration programmes with Irish Aid and Ministries of Health in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia. In Ireland, he has served as a Director with several charities including Tearfund Ireland, Nepal Leprosy Trust Ireland, Cherish International, the Irish Global Health Network, and St Mark’s Church. Internationally, he has been a Board Member and Chair of the European ESTHER Alliance and the Global Health Workforce Alliance.
Obi Nwana
Board Member
Obi is married with two children and has considerable experience working with immigrant youth groups. Obi is experienced in multimedia communications and is currently a Social Care Manager at a Children's Residential Service Ideal Care working with vulnerable young people. He holds B.A. Hist., H. Dip. Prof. Social Care; Dip. Christian Ministry and Cert. in Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Ashitha Thaddaeus
Board Member
Ashitha joined The Wellspring of Life Refuge board in April 2024. Ashitha specialises in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance and has more than 10 years of experience in risk management. She holds a Bachelor of Technology degree and a post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM) specialising in Finance and Marketing.
Mark Kelly
Board Member
Mark joined the board of TWOL in September 2024. He is an experienced, CORU-registered
Senior Social Worker currently working in the disability sector. Mark holds a joint Honours
Degree in Social Studies and a National Qualification in Social Work (NQSW). He has extensive experience in palliative care, mental health, child protection, and medical settings.
Mark is a committed and compassionate practitioner who utilises a person-centred, rights-
based approach in his work.
Valerie Buckman
Board Member
Valerie joined our board in 2024 and is an accountant by profession and a
Minister of the Gospel.
Her experience in The Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana involved both funds management and
customer relations. She worked as a Pastor in the International Central Gospel Church,
Ghana and is experienced in managing church finances.
Valerie’s passion is to see people grow in their God-given abilities. She’s a big advocate for
providing all the support and essential life skills to people to enable them to flourish and fulfil the purpose of God for their lives. She is experienced as a youth worker and in women’s ministry. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, Professional Diploma in Bookkeeping and Payroll and Certificate in Theology.
Patrick Hyland
Board Member
Patrick joined our board in September 2024.
He has enjoyed a long career as a Civil Servant with a wide variety of experience in a number of Government Departments over the years.
He worked with the missions organisation, Operation Mobilisation in South Africa for five
years, and brings a wealth of experience in the missionary field, both home and abroad to
the table.
He holds a Diploma in Finance with the IPA and a Certificate in Biblical Studies with IBI.