Read all about it! Ryan Tubridy encourages community leaders to apply to Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund
Read about our milestone year, as our all-island campaign celebrates over €1,000,000 donated to youth projects since 2011
Milestone year as all-island campaign celebrates over €1,000,000 donated to youth projects since 2011
€100,000 in funding available to non-profits
at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou
Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy was in The Little Museum of Dublin today for the launch of the 2019 Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund. Marking a major milestone year for the Fund, which will see the total figure donated to youth-oriented non-profit groups reach over €1,000,000, Ryan joined former winners Children’s Books Ireland and Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, to encourage community leaders across the island of Ireland to put their ideas into action and apply for funding at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou.
Now in its ninth year, the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund works with a range of charities, community and voluntary organisations, sporting groups and NGOs to back creative new initiatives that inspire and support young people in Ireland aged 16-25.
In 2019, grants totalling €100,000 will be awarded to projects under the categories of education and training, diversity and inclusion in young people and those that take an innovative approach to demonstrating sustainability. Since 2011, the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund has donated over €955,000 to 83 non-profit organisations involved in youth targeted community, social and education programmes.
In 2018 Children’s Books Ireland received €10,000 from the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund for a project to provide homeless teens in Family Hubs with a library of books and a Patron of Reading, to re-engage them in books and reading for pleasure. Speaking about this initiative as a positive example of the difference the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund can make to young people's lives, Ryan Tubridy said: “Literacy is one of the best investments we as a community can make in our future, so to see projects like this one from Children’s Books Ireland come to light because of the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund is great!
“It’s so important that young people are involved in projects that will empower them to become confident leaders of the future. They need to be supported to bring about change and the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund is giving community leaders and hardworking non-profit organisations across Ireland the ability to activate programmes that are doing just that. If you’ve an idea for a project that will inspire young people in your local area, I’d encourage you to check out the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund, with €100,000 in grants up for grabs.”
Applicants can apply at www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou where the straightforward online form includes a 50-word summary of their project in support of their entry. This year a ‘People’s Choice Award’ will also operate, whereby members of the public will be invited to vote for their favourite project among the final 20 shortlisted organisations. Further details of The People’s Choice Award will be announced over the summer.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s Coca-Coca Thank You Fund, Petre Sandru, Country Manager, Coca‑Cola Ireland, said; “2019 marks a major milestone for the Coca Cola Thank You Fund, as we prepare to celebrate the donation of over €1,000,000 to non-profit groups across the island of Ireland since the fund was established. Inspired by the creativity of the leaders in our local community each year, we feel so privileged as a company to be part of their story and supporting their efforts to empower our future change leaders.
“The Coca Cola Thank You Fund was set-up to enable a network of youth-orientated groups and organisations to effect change, so we’re delighted to once again be making €100,000 in funding available to this year’s applicants. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Ryan Tubridy for his involvement in our milestone year, as well as our long-standing youth partners, Irish Youth Foundation and YouthAction Northern Ireland.”
Operated in partnership with The Irish Youth Foundation and Youth Action Northern Ireland, Lucy Masterson, Chief Executive of the Irish Youth Foundation said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be involved in the CocaCola Thank You Fund. The imagination and innovation that shines through in the applications is a testament to the wonderful work that takes place by young people in communities around Ireland.”
Applications for funding can be made via www.coca-cola.ie/thankyou until midnight on Friday 12th of July. Leaders of the shortlisted projects will be invited to present their ideas to a panel of judges in September, with the winners of the Coca‑Cola Thank You Fund and the People’s Choice Award announced at Zeminar, a 3-day exhibition focusing on the mental and physical wellbeing of 16-20 year olds in Ireland, which takes place in National Sports Campus in Dublin from 8th – 10th October 2019.
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