Christmas FM tunes in for Make-A-Wish

CHRISTMAS FM, the hugely popular charity radio station which raises hundreds of thousands of euro for deserving organisations, is this year raising awareness and funds for Make-A-Wish Ireland.

All donations raised by Christmas FM will go to the charity that grants wishes to children with life threatening medical conditions.

Make-A-Wish children have their lives enriched with hope, strength and joy, allowing them to dream big and forget about their sickness for a moment and cherish their childhood dreams.

Make-A-Wish Ireland ambassador Imelda May was on hand to launch this year’s Christmas FM campaign and is looking forward to tuning into the radio station over the festive season.

Speaking at the launch, Imelda said: “I’m a huge supporter of Make-A-Wish Ireland. It’s such a positive happy charity, full of wonderful people, who go to great lengths to make special children’s dreams come true, right when it matters. I’d like to encourage everyone to tune in to the feel good classic festive hits on Christmas FM this year and help raise valuable funds for Make-A-Wish Ireland.”

Christmas FM is set to spread lots of festive cheer and seasonal goodwill every single day in the run up to Christmas. You can tune in to hear a host of very familiar radio voices who will be volunteering their time to bring you round-the-clock Christmas tunes and festive updates until St Stephen’s Day. 

Christmas FM is run as a not-for-profit operation with 100 per cent of donations going directly to charity.

 Since 2008, Christmas FM has raised over €600,000 for charities including the ISPCC, Barnardos, Simon, Focus Ireland, Age Action and Aware.

The station is funded by sponsorship which covers all the costs and is sponsored this year by An Post and Lidl. Once again, Christmas FM will broadcast from the Ballsbridge Hotel who have kindly given the studio space for free.

More than 100 volunteers will participate across the on-air production and promotion of the station this year, with each devoting between 20 and 50 hours of their time. 

The main radio frequencies for Christmas FM are Dublin City and County 94.3FM, Dublin Commuter Belt 88.1FM, Limerick 105.5FM, Galway 89.5FM, Cork 106.7FM, South East103.8FM, North Midlands 101.6FM, North East 99.4 and North Wicklow is 99.5FM. 

Christmas FM will also broadcast on Virgin Media Channel 900 anbd is available online at www.christmasfm.com

You can follow the station on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/christmasfm.

Garvan Rigby, co-founder of Christmas FM, said this was their eighth year on air.

“We are continually heartened by the generosity and support of our listeners and volunteers,” he said. “Since we began broadcasting, we have raised in excess of €600,000 for charity, which is a wonderful achievement for everyone involved in the initiative.

“We are delighted to be back on air and really excited to be working with new sponsors An Post and Lidl Ireland. We’d also like to thank the Ballsbridge Hotel which is home to the radio station again this year.  We look forward to receiving texts and donations from our loyal listeners.”

Irene Timmins, Head of Fundraising at Make-A-Wish Ireland, added: “We have a hugely positive impact on the lives of brave children across the country.

“We are honoured to be the chosen charity for Christmas FM this year. We have many special stories to share and hope that listeners dig deep to help us grant wishes to the children on our waiting list.”

To make a donation, call the Christmas FM Donation line on 1890911977.