- Cheque presentation at ESB Head Office on East Wall Road by Pat Fenlon, Group Finance and Commercial Executive Director
- Three Dublin-based charities - Blossom Ireland, the Salvation Army and the Iveagh Trust – presented with substantial funding for their chosen projects
Friday, June 16 2017 - ESB has today donated €43,000 to three worthy organisations, Blossom Ireland, The Salvation Army and The Iveagh Trust, marking the Energy for Generations Fund spring funding round. The Fund has awarded more than €11million and supported over 700 Irish charities since 2005.
So far in 2017, the ESB Energy for Generations Fund has awarded €322,226 to 38 charities working in the areas of suicide, homelessness and educational access and support.
Speaking at the presentation today, Pat Fenlon stated, "The three organisations here today are fitting representatives of the approximately 150 good causes from around the country that receive funding from ESB. The Energy for Generations Fund donates over one million euro each year to areas in suicide, homelessness and educational access and support. Their work exemplifies the spirit of the Fund and what we are trying to achieve, on a local and national level."
Blossom Ireland provides holiday and life-skills programmes to children with special needs aged between eight to 18 years. Lisa Dunne, Services Development Manager states that the funding provided by ESB will go towards a project for 16 to 18 year olds in preparation for transition from school to further education, or to the workplace. "Blossom Ireland is delighted to accept this funding which recognises the positive impact we are having on the lives of the children and teenagers that we work with. It will go a long way in helping us to continue delivery of these vital services."
Operating across 128 countries, The Salvation Army offers unconditional friendship, practical guidance to people of all ages, backgrounds and needs. In Dublin The Salvation Army operates four residential centres helping people overcome the challenges of homelessness. Stephen Potter, Assistant Regional Homelessness Manager for The Salvation Army in Dublin, states, "Salvation Army Ireland is grateful to ESB for the generosity they have shown in support of our work with people experiencing homelessness. This donation will enable us, in partnership with Business in the Community, to create a pilot programme aimed at helping residents at our centres prepare for future employment."
The Iveagh Trust provides affordable rented housing for families and single people on low incomes, good quality hostel accommodation for homeless men while managing over 1,350 units of social rented and hostel accommodation for over 125 years. Paul Harrison, Director of Finance states, "The Iveagh Trust would like to express its deep gratitude to ESB’s Energy for Generations Fund, following another generous donation to the Iveagh Hostel, greatly assisting us in a major restoration programme to fully refurbish all of the Hostel’s 620+ windows. The Iveagh Hostel is the largest in Ireland, providing accommodation for homeless men in almost 200 single rooms, making a major contribution to alleviating homelessness in Dublin."
ESB’s aim with the Energy for Generations Fund is to maximise the impact of their investment by taking a more strategic approach to effect change. Funding is only part of the jigsaw – ESB also leverage the skills and knowledge within the company to bring about more sustainable and positive outcomes. Last month for instance, skilled apprentices, electricians and engineers kindly gave their time to wire Down Syndrome Cork’s ‘Field of Dreams’ project.
ESB’s Energy for Generations Fund is open to organisations within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. For more information on ESB’s Energy for Generations Fund, please visit our website www.esb.ie
ENDS
Media enquiries to:
ESB Press Office - 01 7026009 /susan.oconnor@esb.ie / Twitter: @ESBGroup
For images from the cheque presentation event, click here.
About ESB:
ESB operates right across the electricity market: form generation, through transmission and distribution to the supply of customers. ESB is the owner of the distribution and transmission networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It has a 49% share of generation in the all-island market and a 38% share of electricity supply in the all-island market with 1.4 million customer accounts.
ESB contributes over €2 billion annually to the Irish economy through dividends, investments, taxes and jobs. ESB provides significant employment both directly, with 7,600 employees, and indirectly through contractors and service providers.