ISPCC honoured with award for ‘hard-hitting campaign that exposed truth about childhood in Ireland’

ISPCC wins top accolade at Awards for Excellence in PR

ISPCC has received the top accolade for the Best Short-Term Media Campaign at the Awards for Excellence in Public Relations for its campaign ‘For some children, Christmas doesn’t happen’.

The awards, which have been co-hosted by the Public Relations Consultants Association Ireland (PRCA) and the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) for the past 30 years, recognise the best in Irish public relations, public affairs and internal communications across the public and private sectors. 

There had been an initial 37 submissions in ISPCC’s category, which was then short-listed to a group of five finalists. 

The judges said that it was a close contest, “but the winning entry was a hard-hitting campaign that showed no fear of exposing harsh truths about childhood in Ireland.”
They added that “this was a strategic and well-planned campaign, with excellent use of research and timing. Challenging objectives were clearly achieved with tangible results. Kudos to an in-house team that surely worked long hours over the holidays period.”

Deirdre McNamara, ISPCC Head of Marketing and Communications, said that “ISPCC was delighted to see our campaign recognised by our peers. This achievement is testament to the amazing work of everyone at ISPCC.

“For too many children and young people, Christmas is sadly just another day. For some, the issues they encounter all year can worsen. It can mean abuse, neglect and loneliness. For others, Christmas can present new worries and concerns. Whatever the reason, they turn to Childline for support and for someone to listen.”

“At Childline we rely heavily on public generosity to help us to be here for every child who needs us.  We depend on this generosity to keep us listening 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.” 

• To support Childline and help keep volunteers listening to children and young people, please support the Childline Summer appeal and donate at www.ispcc.ie.

Warning: Bogus Clothing Collections

A warning message, showing a fake collection sticker
A warning message, showing a fake collection sticker

Please be wary, we have had a number of reports of fake or scam collections

It has come to Childline’s attention that the leaflets advertising bogus clothing collections in the name of Childline by ISPCC are being circulated throughout local communities. Childline by ISPCC does not run this service and it is very concerned that people are being conned into leaving out clothes and other donations assuming that they are going to a charity but this is not the case.

You can spot when a leaflet is bogus in the following two ways: spelling mistakes – the word ‘charity’ is spelled incorrectly and appears as ‘chratiry’ and the phone number for ‘Clothes Aid Helpline’ is incorrect.

If you receive one of these bogus leaflets, you should:

 

  • Dispose of the flyer request
  • Warn your friends, family and neighbours
  • Contact Childline by ISPCC to confirm any suspicious correspondence. Ring 01 234 2000 or email [email protected]

 

Return your bottles and cans to make a difference to a child’s life

New charity campaign ‘Return for Children’ to support six of Ireland’s national children’s charities at selected events across the country

Re-turn, operators of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme, today announced ‘Return for Children’ a new charity fundraising initiative in partnership with six of Ireland’s national Children’s charities – Barnardos Ireland, Barretstown, Childline by ISPCC, Jack & Jill, LauraLynn Children’s Hospice, and Make-A-Wish Ireland.

This is the first time that these six children’s charities have come together under one umbrella campaign. 

Working with large-scale events such as festivals, concerts, and sporting matches, ‘Return for Children’ will provide attendees at participating events with the option to donate their bottle and can deposits at designated Re-turn bins for charity. The monies raised from the initiative collections will be equally divided between all six charities allowing them to continue their vital work supporting vulnerable and seriously ill children in communities across Ireland. 

Collectively, the six charities represent over 165,000 service users made up of vulnerable children in our communities who are affected by poverty, abuse, neglect and bereavement and also children whose lives are affected by serious childhood illness, in some cases life-limiting.

Event organisers who would like to give their attendees the option to donate their bottle and can deposits to ‘Return for Children’ can get in touch with Re-turn by emailing [email protected]

 

Commenting on the launch Ciaran Foley, CEO, Re-turn, said, “We are delighted to announce our new initiative with six of Ireland’s national children’s charities. This campaign will initially be rolled out across large-scale events, allowing visitors to donate to these worthy charities, if they wish to do so. 

“The donation stations will give attendees the chance to make a positive difference to children in local communities up and down the country by donating their bottles and cans. Consumers still have the option to bring their empty plastic bottle and cans back to their nearest deposit return points to get their money back. 

“Today’s announcement forms part of our ongoing commitment to supporting local communities across Ireland and we look forward to working with more local community programmes in the coming months.” 

Commenting on the initiative, the six charities collectively said, “We are incredibly proud to come together as a unified group of six national Children’s Charities under the ‘Return for Children’ initiative. This marks the first time all six Children’s Charities are partnering on a single campaign. Our collaboration with Re-turn demonstrates our shared commitment to supporting vulnerable children and those with serious illnesses across Ireland, while also promoting environmental sustainability. 

“By donating your bottles and cans at participating stadiums and events, your efforts will have a direct impact on the lives of children in need. We urge the public to join us in this innovative effort, using the Re-turn bins at major events to help create a caring future for our children and our planet.”

Re-turn will be collecting at the following confirmed events:

• Taste of Dublin 13-16 June

• Electric Picnic 16-18 August 

• The National Ploughing Championships 17-19 September  

Taste of Dublin, kicking off tomorrow, Thursday 13 June, will have the designated Re-turn bins at the entrance and exit collecting drinks container deposits for the ‘Return for Children’ campaign.

Attendees at events are under no obligation to donate their drinks container deposits. Anyone who would like to get their deposit back, should bring their drinks container to the nearest Deposit Return Points after an event.

Event organisers or local organisations and communities who want to fundraise through Re-turn logo plastic bottle and can collections for their own chosen charities, can get information and guidance on how to best do this by contacting [email protected]