Enter Focus Ireland's Shine a Light Night: Give one night to change a lifetime

7th October 2014

Focus Ireland Shine a Light Night is our flagship corporate event whereby business leader’s sleep out together for one night in Cork’s Historic City Gaol to raise funds and awareness of the issue of homelessness here in Ireland.

Since 2012 over 120 business leaders have slept out and raised over €675,000 to support our work.

Past participants include amongst others Cork Chamber of Commerce, VoxPro, Electric, Cork Innovates, EazyCity, Aviva, Deloitte, H+A Marketing, Hopkins Communications, Brown Thomas, PayPal, Bord Gais, Glanbia, Google, The Irish Times, KBC, BOI and Toyota. See focusireland.ie to see what they say about the event. This year we are delighted to welcome Aviva, Cameo Communications, Red FM, LCE Training, Nova Broadband, Cork Opera House, Cllr. Ken O’Flynn Deputy Lord Mayor, Jerry Buttimer T.D. Savills, Bridhaven Nursing Home, Indicium Marketing, UCC Students Union, Cully & Sully, County Mayor Alan Coleman, Oxford International…

When is it?
The 2014 sleep-outs will take place simultaneously in and Cork’s Historic City Gaol and Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on Friday 17th October and Shine a Light night is once again kindly supported by Aviva Ireland.

What would I have to do?
To take part in Focus Ireland Shine a Light Night 2014 we ask that individual business leaders raise or donate €5,000. We also offer Executive team packages whereby senior team members from the one organisation can participate together and fundraise collectively on a sliding scale:
• 3 executive team members from the one organization raise €12,000
• 4 executive team members from one organization raise €15,000
• 5-6 executive team members from one organization raise €20,000

Where do the funds raised go?
All funds go to Focus Ireland to help people who are at risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness. We have over 70 initiatives and projects across Ireland that offer advice, support, education and housing to help people to have and keep a home. Our work benefited over 10,000 people in 2013 – a 25% increase on the previous year. The funds raised over the last 2 years from Shine a Light Night have further supported our work to end homelessness across Ireland and aimed to prevent people from losing their homes. Our promise to you is that we will use your money well – 89 cent of every euro received goes directly on vital services.

About homelessness:
- The number of families becoming homeless has more than doubled in recent months and 1 in 7 of those accessing homeless services is a child.
- Rough sleeping is one type of homelessness, there are 5,000 people in Ireland who are homeless (of which about 100 are rough sleeping at any one time whilst others are couch surfing, staying in emergency accommodation or living in B&Bs).
- There are tens of thousands of others at risk of homelessness.
- The impact of losing your home is stressful and traumatic and can have long term effects on education, employment, health and well-being.

Learn more about Shine a Light Night, past participants and how to get involved by: Contact Thos O’Leary on 021-4251731or email olearyt@focusireland.ie or visit focusireland.ie

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