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Childline - Bank of Ireland Charity of the Year
24th December 2007
Our current charity of the year, as voted for by employees is ChildlLine Northern Ireland. We kicked off the fundraising with a ChildLine Charity Race Day, held in February 2005 at Down Royal. In June, Bank of Ireland then managed to raise £13,800 at a charity ball it hosted at the Radisson Hotel Belfast, to celebrate ChildLine’s 18th birthday.
All bank branches and head office have been making a consistent effort to raise funds for the charity, particularly in light of recent events, with its nightline service under threat of closure. Recent fundraisers have included a book sale and on the 6th August, employee volunteers are quite literally taking the plunge, by taking part in a sponsored freefall abseil from the roof of the Odyssey Pavilion in Belfast.
ChildLine’s nightline service is facing closure unless £1 million can be found to keep the call centres open. Although fewer calls are received by night-time counsellors, the ones that are made at night tend to be more serious, and sometimes from children who are in life threatening situations. ChildLine has become synonymous with the public as the children’s phone line, and many take comfort in talking to a trained, anonymous counsellor when they feel that they have nowhere else to go.
In Northern Ireland, the majority of calls from children are about bullying, and since it opened in 1999, the Belfast centre, open seven days a week, has counselled over 33,000 children and young people. This is a truly remarkable achievement in this relatively short time. Since ChildLine opened in 1986, it has helped 1.5 million of some of the most vulnerable and frightened children from across the UK, who would otherwise have had no-one to turn to for support.
Bank of Ireland has so far raised £30,000 for ChildLine Northern Ireland and continues to support the charity more than ever, with a renewed drive and greater commitment to ChildLine as it focuses on how best to restructure its service under financial strain. The dedicated team at ChildLine would be grateful for any donations, volunteers or enquiries. If you would like to get in contact with ChildLine Northern Ireland, please email Kerry McCrea at kmmcrea@childline.org.uk
As an institution at the forefront of its industry, Bank of Ireland would like to increase its involvement in projects that benefit the community that made its own success possible. Bank of Ireland promotes a harmonious working environment and teamwork on a charity basis is fundamental to the moral and social values that we endorse.
To learn more about ChildLine, and its emergency appeal, please click here.
© Bank of Ireland 2008
