Dublin shoppers help local clubs win over €139,000 in support from Lidl

Lidl Ireland has announced the winners of its club fundraising initiative that took place earlier this year.

Castleknock Hurling and Football Club were awarded a top prize of €20,000 from the retailer as part of the initiative which called on communities to support their local clubs by scanning their Lidl Plus app at the checkout in their local Lidl.

In total, over €139,000 has been awarded to LGFA clubs across Dublin throughout the course of the initiative.

The club is one of four, one from each province, that picked up the top prize. In total, Lidl has rewarded more than 383 LGFA clubs throughout Ireland, benefitting from new jerseys and up to €20,000 in funding each.

The innovative initiative is part of Lidl’s campaign, Level the Playing Field, that called on communities to get behind their local club by scanning their Lidl Plus app to receive a digital stamp on their stamp card.

Once six stamps were collected, users could submit their completed stamp card via the app and their stamps were then added to their chosen club’s total.

Each club that achieved a minimum of 50 completed digital stamp cards was guaranteed a reward.

The Castleknock community collected 512 stamps in support of their local club. Commenting on the initiative, Kevin O’Shaughnessy, Chairperson of Castleknock Hurling and Football club said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have come out on top in Leinster and win the €20,000 top prize.

“A huge thank you to all members of the club and the local community who collected stamps for our club and to the wonderful staff at Lidl Castleknock for all their help.

“The funding will have a huge impact on developing our grass roots players and helping to encourage new members to join our great club which already sees girls account for almost half of our underage players.”

Mark Sheridan, Sales Operations Manager of local store, Lidl Castleknock said: “We are delighted to award Castleknock LGFA with €20,000 in funding.

“It’s been incredible to see the community come together to really get behind the club to raise some very necessary funds at grassroots level.

“The community has demonstrated their dedication to raising awareness for women in sport as well as helping to encourage young girls to get involved in sport from a very early age and it has truly been incredible to watch.”

In February, Lidl and Ladies Gaelic Football announced a four-year contract extension to the partnership that will mark a decade of #SeriousSupport, representing an investment of €10 million by the retailer throughout the 10-year partnership.

The extension will take the partnership through to the conclusion of the 2025 season.