Three children’s projects battle for votes

Three Dublin 15 children’s projects are currently battling it out in a bid to decide which of them should receive €10,000 from the AIB Better Ireland Programme. The three are Castaheany Educate Together School; Coolmine Therapeutic Community; and Mountview / Blakestown Community Drug Team.

Not-for-profit organisations that help “enhance the lives of children” under certain category headings had until the end of February to submit their application forms for a chance to win €10,000. Each AIB branch then whittled the applicants in their area down to a final three and these three are now embroiled a battle of texts to clinch the prize money.

“This year we broadened our programme to include children with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities and there has been an overwhelming response,” said Brenda Moriarty, of, AIB. “During May the public are being encouraged to vote for the most deserving children’s project in their area. The new AIB Better Ireland Programme is all about local participation, local voting and local benefit for children and we would encourage everyone to get behind their local group.”

“Castaheany Educate Together is a young and rapidly-developing primary school in Dublin 15, due to move into it's new, permanent building this summer in Ongar Village,” says school principal Mary Healy. “We are a multi-denominational, co-educational school with an enrolment of 350 pupils in September. We opened in 2004 with 53 pupils and have been in temporary accommodation since then.
“We hope to design and create a multi-sensory special education room in our new building if we win this prize, to cater more fully for the variety of disabilities of our special needs pupils.”

Coolmine Therapeutic Community, a leading drugs and alcohol rehabilitation charity, would use the money to develop a crèche facility at Coolmine’s new mother & child programme to be launched later this summer.

“If we are lucky enough to win the text vote, it will help transform the lives of the many children we need to support through our new mother and child programme,” says Allie Hogsbjerg, Coolmine’s Fundraising Manager. “Research shows that working with children who have been affected by their parents’ substance abuse helps to break a cycle of addiction. We want these children to grow up with a positive and bright future, rather than follow in their parents’ footsteps.

Mountview / Blakestown Community Drug Team (CDT) was set up by members of the local community in 1998, in order to support drug users and their families. “The childcare service is an important part of the CDT as it allows people with children to use all aspects of the service, in the knowledge that their children will be looked after in an appropriate and safe environment,” says Maureen Penrose of CDT. “The service has been in operation for a number of years now and would be delighted to be in a position to purchase new equipment and furniture.”

In order to vote for the project of your choice, simply text BLANCH followed by either A, B or C to 53099. The appropriate letters are Castaheany Educate Together Learning Support (A), Coolmine Therapeutic Community (B) and Mountview / Blakestown Community Drug Team (C). For example to vote for Castaheany Educate Together Learning Support text BLANCHA to 53099.

The winners will be announced in July and all three groups will receive a cheque representing the monies raised through the text vote.

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