People In Need Trust distributes grants

Howard Lake | 19 September 2005 | News

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• Ireland

David Harvey, Chairman of People in Need Trust, which raises money from an annual telethon, has given grants to a wide variety of charities in Waterford as part of its regional programme of grant distribution. Seven Telethons have been held to date and over ‚€28 million has been distributed in grants, ranging from ‚€150 to ‚€50,000,to thousands of organisations throughout Ireland.

Representatives from benefiting Waterford charities include St Brigids Family & Community Centre, Ardmore/Grange Playground Group, Waterford Youth Training & Education Centre and Waterford Association for Mentally Handicapped.

The eighth RTÉ People in Need Telethon was one of the most successful to date, with over ‚€5.3 million being distributed in funds. Over 4,000 fund-raising events took place involving thousands of people throughout the country.

A cornerstone of the People in Need Trust is that funds raised in a county are allocated back to charitable organisations in that county. As a result of Telethon 2004, almost 760 charities benefited, with the grants ranging in size from ‚€250 to ‚€40,000.

There is a special emphasis on helping the smaller, lesser known charities who, for whatever reason, are not in a position to raise sufficient funds themselves.The primary focus is on voluntary social service organisations. The main source of funds is the highly successful RTÉ People in Need Telethon which is supported by Eircom.

Grant applications are assessed by advisory committees in each region before final approval by the Board of Directors of the Trust.

A key condition is that money raised in a particular county must go back in grants to organisations in that county – in this way, the money raised always stays locally. The organisations who benefit are not only spread widely throughout the country but they represent a wide spectrum of social need in Ireland – organisations providing ervices for the handicapped, the homeless, the elderly, deprived childrenand other disadvantaged groups.

Members of the Board of the People in Need Trust are: Bill Attley, Moya Doherty, Clare Duignan, Liam Farrell, David Harvey (Chairman), Margaret Heffernan, John Hogan, Angela Holohan, Pat Kinsley, Christy Maye, Ger O’Mahoney, Josephine Nolan, Willie O’Reilly, Gerry O’Sullivan, Fran Rooney, Des Whelan

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.