May Ezine
Summer is upon us! The year is flying by and I am delighted that so many of our community of clubs, volunteers, and athletes are active again at their clubs, at advancement events, interclub competitions, and other related activities. I just want to remind you that if you need support from Special Olympics in any form we have a wealth of tools, materials, and knowledgeable staff so please do not hesitate to reach out to your local regional team or to Special Olympics Ireland here. Whilst there are over 200 clubs back up and running, we still have circa 80 clubs who have yet to return. I hope your preparation is going well. We miss you greatly and I know that the vast majority of athletes can’t wait to get back. We can’t do it without your invaluable and critical support. We simply “Can’t Stop Now”.
As you know, Collection Day took place on Friday, April 29th. This was our first in-person Collection Day since 2019 and I want to thank everyone who supported this day either through volunteering, donating, organising a fundraiser, taking part in our virtual 5k or helping to raise awareness. A special mention has to go to the nearly 2,000 volunteers who coordinated and led our on-street collections across the country. This visible street presence is vital for not only raising funds but also awareness for the return to the sports field. Many Special Olympics Clubs got engaged and that made a real difference. It is always great for the general public to meet and speak with our athletes directly. Thank You! The response from the public at large was really positive. On the media front, I would like to thank our spokespeople, athletes, volunteers, and parents who all took part in our radio, video, press, and ad campaign. Thanks to Ian Dempsey and the team at TodayFM and Des Cahill at RTE's Morning Ireland for the on-air support and Clearchannel, for the outdoor advertisements. Your support helped to raise the awareness for Collection Day and inform the public of the work of Special Olympics Ireland.
Thank you to our wonderful partners for supporting our Collection Day. eir staff volunteered across the country as well as hosting a raffle & 5K for Collection Day in Sligo. Gala Retail had volunteers at 7 stores as well as in-store promotion. Dell Technologies staff volunteered in Cork and Limerick. Bank of America staff volunteered in Dublin. Aer Lingus hosted on-board collections on European flights from Friday 29th April - Sunday 8th May. National Treasury Management Agency hosted a very successful Bake Sale, Milestone Technologies organised a 5k and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party fundraiser. This event was co-organised with Google and supported by GXO Logistics, Synergy Security Solutions, DS Workspace and Interiors Ltd and ThinknBlink. Synergy Golf hosted a fundraising raffle at two of their golf venues with one more to come in June. Insomnia donated 5C per cup of coffee on the day, plus helped hugely with awareness amongst their customers both in-store and via their app. Pita Pit donated 50% of sales on the day from both their stores. Lastly but not least our neighbours on the Sport Ireland Campus promoted collection buckets on the day.
Collection Day really is a collective team effort and as you can see it has paid off. As the counting of donations continues, I am delighted to tell you that we hope to raise close to €300,000!
Thank you so much for your support, I am delighted to share some photos from the day showing that you really did paint the town red for Collection Day!
Warm Regards,
Matt
Matt English,
CEO, Special Olympics Ireland
