Christmas FM aims to give back to the children The radio station is fundraising to help children in need this festive season It’s that time of the year again when everyone is in the festive spirit, planning their vacations or doing their Christmas shopping. Every year Christmas FM goes on air across Ireland from November 28th to December 27th to get people into the Christmas spirit. Christmas FM is a family of Christmas Radio Stations and Festive Content Publisher. “We create and curate a unique mix of content centered around the Magic of Christmas and deliver it on the radio and digitally via our website, player, apps and social networks. We serve a worldwide community who want to connect to that Christmas feeling,” the station said.
“Every year we need to raise €5.8 million to run our therapeutic programmes to serve children who suffer from serious illness, and their families” Each year Christmas FM partners with a charity who becomes their official charity partner for that year. To date, Christmas FM have raised over €1.25M for Irish charities. “Christmas FM Ireland is a quasi-national FM radio station serving Ireland for 30 days each Christmas period. We operate a unique temporary radio service funded by commercial sponsorship and activities and have a strong focus on fundraising for charity.” In 2017 Christmas FM, along with their charity partner Sightsavers, gave 5000 people the gift of sight. “Our transmission network grew with the addition of Tralee/Killarney, Letterkenny and Clare, and we raised €214,000 for Sightsavers. Vogue Williams launched the station which was sponsored by Dunnes Stores and Cadbury, in the year that Aisling and Maeve won the Song Contest with ‘This Christmas’.”
will go directly towards Barretstown’s mission of rebuilding the lives of seriously ill children and their families. They plan to do thisby offering life- changing Therapeutic Programmes in a safe, fun and supportive environment. The station said that all the services that were provided to the children and families who attended Barretstown were entirely free of charge, so donations and fundraising efforts were vital for the charity. Co-founder of Christmas FM, Garvan Rigby said, “Barretstown is a very special organisation and we are delighted to be partnering with them for Christmas FM this year. The radio station creates a feel-good festive factor that is unrivalled anywhere else, and we look forward to sharing that with everyone at Barretstown, including: campers, parents, staff and volunteers, as well as our listeners. As sponsorship pays the running costs of the radio station, this means that all money raised on air through donations can go directly to Barretstown and we look forward to raising as much as possible this year for such a worthycause.” To mark its 25th anniversary, Barretstown unveiled a nationwide Press Play campaign. The aim of the campaign was to achieve their vision by 2024. Every child with a serious illness in Ireland would have the opportunity to benefit from one of Barretstown’s therapeutic programmes. “We are so thrilled to be chosen as Christmas FM’s charity partner for 2019 and it really will be the perfect end to what has been a hugely exciting year for us as we celebrate our 25 th anniversary. Every year we need to raise €5.8 million to run our therapeutic programmes to serve children who suffer from serious illness, and their families.” CEO of Barretstown, Dee Ahearn, said on the partnership with Christmas FM.
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Photograph Courtesy of Christmas FM ‘Christmas FM is an annual radio program run by volunteers’
ByLindi Masinga
This year Christmas FM’s chosen charity is Barretstown. Barretstown was founded by Hollywood actor and philanthropist Paul Newman in 1994 and is modelled on his renowned Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, USA. It serves children affected by serious illnesses - primarily cancer and serious blood diseases - and their families. Since 1994 it has served over 50,000 campers. 2019 is a hugely important year for Barretstown as it marks its 25th Anniversary. Christmas FM is aiming to raise over €250,000, which
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