Mayor to sleep rough for charity

DUBLIN Lord Mayor, Oisín Quinn, and 100 top business leaders will be sleeping rough in the capital next month in an effort to raise over

?¬500,000 to combat homelessness.

It’s all part of this year’s Focus Ireland

‘Shine a Light Night’ that’s being held on October 18 when the mayor and business leaders will set up camp in Iveagh Gardens.

Last year’s event raised over ˙

?¬370,000 but organisers are hoping to top the half a million mark in 2013 to help fund vital services for the city’s homeless population.

Each business leader taking part in the event is being asked to raise or donate e5,000 to help Focus Ireland continue its work supporting over 8,000 homeless people.

Earlier this month Lord Mayor Quinn joined up with Lisa-Nicole Dunne of Focus Ireland, Paul Grimes of Aviva Ireland and Ronan Harris of Google at Focus Ireland’s Coffee Shop & Advice and Information centre in Temple Bar, to launch the call for business leaders to sign up and take part in the event.

“As Lord Mayor of Dublin I aim to represent all of its citizens including people who are marginalised through being homeless,

? the mayor said.

“I hope that by taking part in this great event we can raise funds for Focus Ireland’s important work and also help to raise awareness and understanding of the issues by

‘shining a light’ on homelessness.

?

He added:

“I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to sleep rough or stay in hostels and not have a place to call home, but I know it’s possible to help people to move on from this and I think it’s really important that we all play our part in helping to achieve this.

“I hope the business community get behind this and sign up to take part this year.

?

Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Focus Ireland, Lisa-Nicole Dunne, explained the importance of fundraising at the launch.

“Worryingly one in seven people currently using homeless services is a child and last year we helped more than 8,000 people who were homeless or at risk of losing their home,

? she said.

“We could not do this without quality partnerships and support from corporates.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Aviva and the 55 business leaders who took part last year raising more than

?¬370,000, without which we would not have been able to settle 379 households which were homeless last year into a place they can now call home.

“Many of the business people are joining us again this year including KPMG, Deloitte, RR Donnelly, KBC, Littlewoods Ireland and many more and we are calling on others to now sign up to join them.

?

She added:

“It’s important to stress that this is not just about the terrible problem of homelessness. It’s also about prevention.

“The recession is taking a terrible toll on families all over Ireland and nearly 20 per cent of mortgages are in arrears and many thousands of households are struggling to pay their rent.

“Focus Ireland can support people in this situation and work to try to prevent them from losing their home.

?

For more information on

‘Shine a Light Night’ log on to www.shinealight.ie or get in touch with the fundraising team on 01-8815900 or [email protected].