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Tag: charity

  • Sing for Vulnerable Society at Christmas

    By Injae Kang

    With shining Christmas lights across Dublin City Centre and colourful projections illuminating 16 City Centre locations, Christmas is just around the corner.

    While many people are revelling in Christmas, which is widely regarded as the season of giving and spending time with loved ones, there are volunteers for people who are sleeping rough on the streets, not just on Christmas day.

    As the number of people who are at the risk of homeless or at risk of homelessness has increased due to the cost of living crisis in Dublin, Dublin Simon Community provides essential services for those who need support. 

    A crowd of people in a city Description automatically generated with medium confidence

    The Christmas lights on Grafton Street have been switched on. Photo by Injae Kang

    “The number of elderly people experiencing homelessness in Dublin has increased by 28 per cent in the last 12 months. A record-breaking number of people will spend this Christmas in homelessness”, Roisin Coulter who is a community and events manager at Dublin Simon Community said.

    “As housing supply remains at an all-time low, these people will have no indication of how many more Christmases will be spent this way. Several more will spend their Christmas at home in fear that it may be their last as the cost-of-living crisis pushes more and more people below the breadline”, she said. 

    Number of People Homeless in Ireland. Source by Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government

    With over 200 volunteers, choirs, and artists who give up their time during the Christmas days, Dublin Simon Community will plan to hold upcoming Christmas events for the purpose of raising much-needed funds for those most vulnerable in Irish society who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

    The Sing For Simon event will take place on the 8th of December in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre. Wild Youth, the Lucan Gospel Choir, Curtis Walsh, and others will be performing and showing their support for the event.

    Dublin Simon Community will also have a ‘Carolathon’ event, which is 24 hours of carolling on the streets of Dublin. Where Choirs will come together in a relay to raise vital funds for the events and services.

    Also, its Christmas events will round off with its traditional Christmas Eve Busk outside the Gaiety Theatre. In the busk, “For over 10 years, some of Ireland’s favourite artists have come down to show their support and raise vital funds for our work”, she said. 

    Students from Trinity and UCD founded the Dublin Simon Community in 1969 to provide soup and sandwiches to people sleeping rough in the City Centre.

    “Dublin Simon works to prevent and address homelessness in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan. We provide services at all stages of homelessness and enable people to move to a place they can call home”, she said.

    In addition to the Christmas events, Dublin Simon Community provides a variety of services for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. A variety of services are provided, including emergency accommodation, soup runs, health care, and treatment.

    She spoke about one of the charity events provided by the organization: “Next year will mark the 40th year of what was the Fun Run but is now the Home Run. Home Run is a fun and challenging, five-mile race through our capital’s beautiful Phoenix Park on the first Saturday in October.

    “This is more than just a run. Each year members of the public, the business community, students, teachers, Simon staff, volunteers and clients all take part in this fantastic event. They run, walk or jog through the park; coming together as a community to challenge themselves and show their support for those living through the nightmare of homelessness.”

  • Better Finglas spray paint to uplift spirits

    Better Finglas spray paint to uplift spirits

    By Leigha O Reilly Hughes 

    Photo by Leigha O Reilly Hughes 

    Better Finglas is a charity that was developed by a large number of organisations, groups and individuals working in the Finglas area. 

    Better Finglas has a vision of a community where all services are working together with families to improve the development, health and educational outcomes of young children living in the area. 

    The charity is based in a primary school that is located in the Finglas area. They decided to run an advent which would help brighten up the primary school. 

    The staff in Better Finglas, as well as volunteers from the area came together to spray paint the railings that surround the primary school rainbow. 

    This was to help the children attending the school to feel as though it was a welcoming place for them and that they feel worthwhile while attending. 

    Donna Cullen, who is a community engagement worker at Better Finglas talks more about the matter.  

    Click the video below to know more!

  • Freezebruary boys: South Dublin group embrace the challenge of sea swimming for 28 days in a row for charity

    Freezebruary boys: South Dublin group embrace the challenge of sea swimming for 28 days in a row for charity

    Cian Murphy, Conor Murphy, Neville Godfrey and Derek Dunne moments before attempting the Freezebury challenge for 16 minutes on 16 February. Photo courtesy of Tom Murphy

    Participants across the country have undertaken the Freezebruary challenge for the month of February, in aid of numerous charities throughout Ireland – and that means sea-swimming each day of the month.

    Those opting for the more extreme version of the challenge are required to having an increase of time spent in open water, starting from one minute on 1 February, rising to 28 minutes on 28 February.

    The Freezebruary Boys, four young men based in South Dublin – Cian Murphy, Conor Murphy, Derek Dunne, Neville Godfrey – are taking part in the challenge, in aid of the heart and stroke charity, Croí. 

    Currently, they have raised over €12,000 for their chosen charity, with donations coming from people throughout Ireland and abroad.

    “At the beginning of the month, we had to swim whilst being in the middle of a snow shower”

    Neville Godfrey

    “My mother died last year due to a stroke, so we agreed collectively that Croí was the charity we wanted to go with,” Godfrey says. “We have seen some of the amazing work that Croí has put in throughout the years for [those] who have suffered a stroke or heart conditions,” he continues.

    When coping with the harsh circumstances for sea-swimming at this time of the year, Godfrey says the task has been “highly demanding” for the group as they have experienced a variety of weather conditions throughout February.

    ‘’At the beginning of the month, we had to swim whilst being in the middle of a snow shower and by mid-February, there were high gusts of winds down by the coast that made it difficult for us. We are decent swimmers and do it regularly in the summer months, so the tough conditions have only spurred us on more to face the challenge,’’ says Godfrey.

    “You find out a lot about yourself when you’re staring in the face of adversity’’

    Neville Godfrey

    According to Swim Ireland, open water temperatures in the sea tend to dip below 10 degrees Celsius during the winter months and will not rise above that level until April at the earliest.

    What about the mental benefits of sea swimming?

    “Physically it is quite daunting for the body, but at the end of the day, it’s just you against the water. Each swim we’ve done has been so beneficial towards maintaining positive mental health,” Godfrey says.

    The support for the campaign has exceeded the expectations of Godfrey and his three counterparts, as they expected to garner some attention but nothing close to the over 500 donors contributing to the fundraiser.

    “In the beginning, we expected to raise a few hundred euro for Croí, by 6 February we had already raised €8,000. We couldn’t believe how much we raised in such a short space of time,” Godfrey says.

    The Freezebruary Boys pose with the tricolour after having their ninth dip of the month. Photo courtesy of Tom Murphy

    “We have the advantage of having four of us running the campaign, so we could reach out to several people through our friends and family – but it just blew up to the point where everyone in the area was donating towards the cause.

    ‘’People have been so generous when donating to us. People with [whom] we have no affiliation were donating hundreds. We received a donation of €200 from one individual, who then gave another €280 moments later, it’s surreal,” he continues.

    The vehicle for pushing the fundraiser was their Instagram page, which gained 1,000 followers in a week. On their Instagram, they post daily updates of their experience with the difficult challenge.

    Through social media, they managed to target numerous people in their community while also receiving assistance from some notable names. Some include TV presenter Laura Whitmore sharing the social media page and former rugby player and originator of the Freezebruary challenge Damien Browne, who backed the fundraiser online.

    Thus far, they have raised €14,500 in donations with a target of €15,000.

    You can donate towards Freezebruary Boys here

  • Mobile Cash Transfers are changing how we donate to disadvantaged communities

    Mobile Cash Transfers are changing how we donate to disadvantaged communities

    Mobile cash transfers have proven to be one of Concern’s most modern, innovative methods of giving those most in need, a foundation to build better lives in what are the most challenging of situations. Gavin Dalton explores this modern way of helping those who need it.

    Picture from Pixabay.

    The idea of cash transfers to disadvantaged communities worldwide comes as a faster, more efficient way of delivering humanitarian response. In Somalia in 2018, the Somali Cash Consortium was formed, led by Concern in coordination with other aid agencies and funded by ECHO (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Department). Throughout the year, the consortium distributed over €15 million to more than 300,000 beneficiaries through mobile-money transfers. Vital to the initiative was Concern’s Private Sector Engagement Manager, Paul Carr. Carr spent 15 months working in the field in the easternmost country of Africa. 

    So what exactly is meant by mobile-money cash transfers? Carr explains.

    “Traditionally humanitarian organisations would’ve gone with the physical products or services that are needed in an emergency response,” he said. “So if people are hungry, bring them food. If people need medical supplies bring them medical supplies.

    “I think what became evident with the likes of food interventions was that we were flooding markets where there weren’t really viable markets, with foreign foods and that meant, although we may be plugging the initial food shortage, the medium to long term effects of this is that there’s no local market for local products. 

    “It’s much cheaper to supply cash transfers than it is to organise the logistics of moving huge amounts of supplies – whether it be food, shelter or cooking supplies for example the logistics and time it takes to move things into these areas, in contrast with the speed of mobile cash transfers which is immediate, really allows them to buy the products they need at that time, far quicker.”

    The delivering of all these payments obviously takes some work. Working with people  who may misfortunately have just endured a natural disaster like a cyclone, or are in the midst of a drought or famine for example in areas of low connectivity around the world obviously brings its own challenges from a technological point of view. Concern’s Chief Information Officer Barry Roche adds how exactly the NGO carries out the process of delivering money to the mobile phones of those in need. 

    “It’s relatively simple,” Roche explained. “From a technical perspective there’s not that much to it. 

    “Obviously we have our beneficiaries and they would register with us. This is the analogy I always use myself, if we’re in a particular country and they don’t have a department of social welfare, we effectively become the department of social welfare in that particular region. We’re there essentially to distribute social benefits. So if you are one of our beneficiaries, we will run registrations where we will go out to particular areas and say “we’re here, come to us and we’ll register you and put you on the system”. We’ll take the details and basically sync them up to the system. M-Pesa (a mobile phone based money transfer service) have been doing mobile money in Africa for a long long time. Somebody like that will then distribute the money for us.”

    So after the details are received and processed, when do the residents of the communities receive their payments?

    Carr said: “In one year we had two periods of 3 months of transfers so we would each month, for three months, give cash transfers over mobile money. Essentially we would work with the telecommunications companies and they would deliver the cash over their mobile money platform. Somalia has lots of development issues but it has an amazingly effective telecommunications network which allows us to reach practically everybody with money mobile transfers over mobile phones. The three month periods of mobile transfers will coincide with the periods where we feel it will be most needed.So it could be a period of drought which is relatively seasonal although climate change is having significant impacts on the predictability of those occurrences, but it could be in relation to the harvest, during harvesting times when food shortages will be most severe. We’ll time those transfers to coincide with the times when we know the needs will be greatest.”

    The benefits of mobile-money transfers speak for themselves. Not only does it supply those in need with essential funding for putting the receivers children through school for example, it lays the groundwork for a sustainable economy in the specific region.

    Carr added: “As for instance, as I mentioned before, when traditionally, aid agencies would’ve flooded markets with food and supplies which were from other countries, not locally produced, not bought from the local markets, then what happens to the local economy? What chances do local farmers have to sell their produce? What opportunities do local market traders have to sell their own produce if it’s being flooded with basically foreign goods. So, in the long term money transfers have great, significant benefits for small communities and that cash injection really stimulates the local economy. 

    “A big one is the choice and dignity it gives to the people, we work with, the participants in our programmes, instead of us saying we know what you want, here it is, they have the choice, flexibility and dignity to make those choices and decisions for themselves.”

    Speaking of some new plans in the pipeline for Concern, Roche said, “It’s ongoing in Somalia, there’s going to be another one in Syria and Iraq, there’s talk about one in Chad, so it depends on the scale of the programme. 

    “It’s an ever evolving thing, but certainly from a programming perspective we’ve moved on quite a bit from the old idea of just delivering sacks of rice or foodstuffs.  We feel people should be in charge of their own destinies, if they’re in receipt of say five dollars, they can make the best decisions to suit their own specific needs or situation at that particular time.”

    An exemplary initiative which showcases the great lengths improved digital technologies have strived to on a global scale, with its vast array of rewards more than evident— testimony to the great work being done by those involved.

  • Save a Bro this Movember

    Save a Bro this Movember

    November means Movember and this year Megan O’ Brien spoke to three people about how they are getting involved.

    The Movember Foundation raises funds and awareness for men’s mental health, prostate cancer and testicular cancer and now more than ever, we need to get the conversation going.

    For more information you can head to http://www.movember.com.

  • Video: DIT Societies launch Xmas Appeal

    Daniel Osborne & Conor Shields look at the good work being done by DIT Societies to raise money for charity this Christmas

  • DIT societies raising money for charity

    DIT societies raising money for charity

    Every year, DIT societies run a Christmas Appeal where each society puts on events to raise money for charity.

    Each year, charities are chosen by the students in societies and this year the Irish Cancer Society, St. Vincent de Paul and Pieta House were chosen.

    From pie-throwing to fashion shows and bungee runs to dance showcases, this year’s societies had every type of event covered.

    Check out their events below!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQVrZ4_Hslo

    Follow Rachael on Twitter @racheibrien

  • Bluebell residents jet off for unique trip to Valencia

    Bluebell residents jet off for unique trip to Valencia

    Last month, an elderly gentleman’s group got to experience what might literally be the trip of a lifetime as they travelled to Valencia, Spain, thanks to the Bluebell Community Development Project (CDP).

    For many of them, it was a first trip outside of Ireland. Tommy Coombes, who manages the CDP, on behalf of the Canals Community Partnership, led the charge for this unique expedition.

    “I’m interested in life’s journey. There are 60 occupied housing units here in Bluebell, and they are occupied mainly by men. These are gents who would [in many cases have had tough lives]. We have tended to experience a strong sense of apathy amongst a lot of the men in this community,” Tommy explained.

    Tommy, a PHD student in Maynooth University, has worked in Bluebell for over seven years now. He has worked hard to try and promote health and a sense of well-being with these older men, in the hopes that it will bring them out of their shells, which seems to have been successful.

    “We’ve organised various trips, gone out fishing for example. We tend to try take these chances. Importantly, we do what the men want, not what we want.”

    This philosophy was what led to this whole trip coming to life.

    “One of the men a while ago said: ‘Why don’t we just get out of here for a while and do something?’ While you had a few lads up for it, with places like Limerick mentioned, he goes: ‘No I mean out of the bloody country!’

    “So since last January or February they’ve been saving to go to Valencia in Spain. Initially, when someone suggested Valencia because they had a mate who owns a pub there, most thought he actually meant Valentia in County Kerry. It became sort of a dream or wish and we set out to get funding through fundraisers. We engaged with local councillors, with Sinn Fein helping out massively,” explained Tommy.

    With most men having never left the country before, the organisers were met with many obstacles, most notably, the organisation of passports. Ed Nolan, also of the CDP, has lived in the community for less than a year. As the new kid on the block, he was tasked with the challenge of helping to get everything together.

    “Tommy asked me to organise the Valencia trip, so myself and a couple of others did the work for it. It took a lot of organisation, but we got there in the end. It’s all been worthwhile,” explained Ed.

    “Some people here hadn’t even had a passport before. It took a lot of work getting everything together, especially with first time passports. I had a scheme where everyone gave €3-4 a week so that when it came to the day, you would have a few bob in your pocket at the very least,” Ed added.

    Tommy, who himself is in his sixties, works hard to try and make sure that these men get the chance to continue to live fulfilled lives through retirement, and in this case, experience brand new things.

    “I suppose the idea was to allow the men to experience the life of other older men in another culture. Also, the adventure. With most men never having a passport, it was a serious challenge at first. Fears of flying, fears of the unknown. A general fear of being taken out of their own comfort zone. A lot of these men have a very set framework,” Tommy explained.

    “From getting up in the morning to going to bed at night, they have a strict structure that’s very hard to step out of. A lot of work from all the staff was pivotal in helping the men realise they could do this,” he added.

    While it might not seem like much of a battle to those lucky enough to travel abroad on a regular basis, it unfortunately was too daunting a leap for some.

    “Maybe to us who have gone away and travelled, it may not be a big deal, but for these lads, who may have barely seen the upstairs of a Dublin Bus, it’s a massive step. So much so, that a few men actually had to pull out because they couldn’t take that leap of faith,” Tommy revealed.

    However, one man that could make the trip was a resident suffering from cancer, who had just finished his final chemo treatment. As Ed recalled:

    “We didn’t ask him to come along originally as his chemo and radiology wouldn’t have been finished until the end of September when we had originally planned on going. Now because of funding and that we ended up going on the 18th of October, [he] was finished up by then.

    “Four or five days before we left I asked him if he would come. We checked with the doctors and he was well enough to go. As it turned out, he hadn’t got a passport either. I went down to the passport office morning, noon and night and we managed to get it literally the day before we were going. It was great.”

    On reflection, the whole event was deemed a massive success for Bluebell CDP, and for the group of men who got to have a life-changing trip that won’t be forgotten any time soon.

    Ed finished: “It was a great little experience for all the lads. Even some in wheelchairs got to go around and see what was an absolutely beautiful city. And of course we had an old sing-song in the evenings. You never know, this could be a yearly thing.”

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  • Dublin Rose sleeps out for the homeless

    Dublin Rose sleeps out for the homeless

    Aisling Finnegan, who represented Dublin in this year’s Rose of Tralee, sat down with Rachael O’ Brien to catch up on the Rose of Tralee festival and what she has been getting up to since, including the Focus Ireland Sleepout tonight.

    ROT

    Why did you enter the Rose of Tralee?

    “I’ve always watched the Rose of Tralee and it’s something that I thought would be an amazing experience to do but I never proactively searched for the Dublin selections.

    “It was actually my friend who couldn’t speak more highly about it, he was involved a few years ago, and he got the ball rolling for me. But when I met all the girls at the first Dublin Rose meeting that’s one of the reasons I really did it because I was on the fence about it. When I met them all I realised they were the same type of people as me and I honestly just did it for the experience.”

    What are some of your highlights since becoming the Dublin Rose in July?

    “The highlight was definitely the support I got from everyone. I had to get one hundred thank you cards printed because of the amount of cards and good wishes from everyone all over the world.

    “The support I got was unbelievable and something I still can’t get over. From a Tralee point of view the highlight was seeing my family on the Sunday before the actual filming. You only see your family for about four hours over the whole week. I got to spend about two hours with family and friends in the Meadowlands Hotel and everyone had their own area and it was nice to break away and see them.”

    What was your reaction when you saw yourself on the cover of the Irish Independent?

    “That was funny! I still haven’t watched back my TV night so that was the closest thing I saw to the stage. My mum and dad were ecstatic that I was on the front of the Independent so it was amazing.”

    Folkster, a vintage shop located in Temple Bar supplied Aisling with her dresses. Did you get to keep any of the dresses that they gave you?

    “Folkster were so good to me for lending me all of my dresses and then I got a call off them after I did my stage interview where I mentioned them. They were so happy that I talked about them that they said while I would have to give back my stage dress, I could keep all my other dresses.”

    What is the Focus Ireland Sleepout and how are you involved?

    “It’s a Focus Ireland [event] in conjunction with a bar in town, Sober Lane. One of the escorts for this year was sponsored by Sober Lane and he mentioned it to a group of us, and asked us would anyone be interested in doing it. I jumped on it as it is an amazing charity to fundraise for as it’s something at the moment that is so important.

    “There are ten of us doing it and it’s a twelve hour sleep out from 8pm this Saturday to 8am Sunday morning. The aim is to raise €100 each, so €1000 in the end, and it’s in Ringsend Football Club this year.”

    Do you have many Rose duties for the rest of the year now that Tralee is finished?

    “Most of the events I’m involved in are charity events so I can manage them around work as best as I can. I go to launches and opening of events and just help out as much as I can. I suppose you make it your own year and be as proactive as you want for the year so that’s what I’m going to do.”

    If you want to sponsor Aisling for the Focus Ireland Sleepout you can do so here and to keep up with what she’s doing check out her Facebook page.

  • Walk In My Shoes broadcasts from St Patrick’s Hospital

    Walk In My Shoes broadcasts from St Patrick’s Hospital

    This week, Walk In My Shoes (WIMS), a charity aimed at promoting mental health awareness, are running a pop up radio station, which is broadcasting from St Patrick’s Mental Health Services.

    The aim of the radio station is to raise €10,000 to help young Irish people with their mental health.

    WIMS Radio is hoping to encourage listeners to become involved in the conversation and stigmas that often surround mental health. It aims to get young people talking about their mental health, as early detection is key when it comes to dealing with it.

    This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the motto of the charity is ‘a small step, a huge difference’.

    Stephen Cahill is a radio student in Ballyfermot College of Further Education (BCFE), who is currently working on the research team for the Aiden Power and Andrew Stanley show in the mornings.

    “I’m really enjoying working on the show. I worked on it last year and already I’ve noticed a massive improvement in the quality of the show,” said Stephen.

    “It’s mostly run by students from BCFE, and we’re so lucky to get this experience.

    “I’m also a massive advocate for mental health myself, so even on a personal level I’m delighted to be involved in the show,” he added.

    WIMS radio aims to interview guests who may have previously suffered with their mental health, or that have a positive message that they could share with their listeners.

    “We had William Meara (former DIT Student), on the show on Monday morning, and he is running a two night retreat called ‘UnPlug’ which basically teaches you how to manage your social media rather than letting it managing you. It includes activities such as Yoga, and provides a full vegetarian diet to help you relax and unwind,” he said.

    “I think that’s definitely very important in today’s society as people don’t realise how dangerous social media can be for our mental health.”

    Other familiar faces on the station include Bressie,  Al Porter and Sile Seoige.

    “I remember Bressie being on our show last year, and I was just in awe. The way he spoke about his own battle with mental health really resonated with me. This was just before the launch of his book ‘Me and My Mate Jeffery’, which I’m sure he’ll be discussing later in the week,” Stephen said.

    If you’ve missed any of the shows on Walk In My Shoes Radio, don’t worry, as you can catch their podcast on their website or listen in live on 94.3FM.

    You can also donate €2 by texting ‘Shoes’ to 57802, or for more details simply visit their website.