One for Ireland announce partnership with the Restaurants Association of Ireland

One for Ireland announce partnership with the Restaurants Association of Ireland

One for Ireland aim to raise funds for youth mental heath

23rd March 2017: One for Ireland has today announced a new partnership with the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) for their 2017 fundraising campaign taking place this May Bank Holiday weekend (Friday 28^th April – Monday 1^st May). The RAI have come on board to encourage hotels, restaurants and cafés across Ireland to participate in raising funds for young people in Ireland, this year’s campaign is focusing on the growing epidemic of mental health issues among Irish young people. Members of the RAI nationwide are encouraged to allow customers to add €1 to their bill across the four days of the May Bank Holiday. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to seven charity projects across the country working to benefit young people’s mental health and help young people experiencing mental health issues.

This year the One for Ireland team aim to build on the success of last year’s campaign which was run in conjunction with the Irish Youth Foundation and supported by Irish golfing hero Shane Lowry, raising almost €200,000 for youth homelessness. In 2016 One for Ireland partnered with over 1,100 retailers across the country including Applegreen, Starbucks, Mace, Fresh, Spar, Eurospar, Londis, XL, Insomnia, SparExpress and many independent stores. This year they aim to partner with even more retailers along with members of the hospitality industry following today’s announcement of their partnership with the RAI.

Currently 500 retailers and 20 members of the hospitality industry have signed up for 2017 and the volunteer group wants to bring this number to a total of 1,500 in order to raise as much funding as possible for youth mental health. The Restaurants Association of Ireland hope that their involvement in this campaign will encourage members to sign up and help One for Ireland raise much needed funds for youth mental health.

The mechanic to getting involved is simple – businesses are provided with posters and a table-top information card which alerts customers to the campaign and explains the donation. A €1 item is installed into the till to represent the donation. This is added to the customer’s bill. If the customer does not wish to donate they simply tell their server they wish to opt-out and the donation is not added. This opt-out system is explained by the table-top card. Each business will be able to see how many units of the €1 donation were ‘sold’ and the store can transfer this back to One for Ireland at the end of the weekend. Paypal and Ulster Bank are supporting One for Ireland to provide free transfer of funds so the entire donation goes to the charities and retailers are not charged for taking part. Businesses can sign up here www.oneforireland.ie/retailer.

Created by seven recent graduates from Trinity College, the One for Ireland initiative is supported by the Irish Youth Foundation and the volunteer group have divided Ireland into eight regions. All funds donated in each area will be used to improve the young people living in that specific area. 100% of the proceeds will be granted to the key agencies working on the frontlines with young people to benefit their mental health. This is the first time that these charities have worked together under one umbrella fundraising campaign and reflects the seriousness of the problem in Ireland today.

Speaking about the announcement, CEO of Restaurant Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins says, “The Restaurants Association of Ireland is delighted to partner with and support the One For Ireland 2017 campaign. We look forward getting our members throughout Ireland involved in the campaign to raise awareness and funds to support young people who are dealing with mental health issues. Restaurants and cafes play a vital role in communities across Ireland and are often a meeting point for people to sit and chat about their issues. We look forward to promoting the campaign and raising much needed funds for this worthy cause.”

Niall McLoughlin, CEO, Irish Youth Foundation added; “One for Ireland is a really effective way for restaurants in Ireland to help and connect with their community. The donation mechanism is both simple and quick and the ask is small enough that we hope most people will be able to take part. We hope this year’s initiative will create a positive impact on youth mental health and will show in a real and tangible way that businesses within the hospitality industry want to support their communities.”
 

If you are a hotel, restaurant or café and want to sign up, visit www.oneforireland.ie or email One for Ireland directly on In addition to donating in-store, people can also donate by texting “One” or “1” to 50300. €2 will then be debited from your credit or next bill.*

*Text costs €2. One for Ireland will receive a minimum of €1.63. Service Provider: LIKECHARITY. Helpline: 076 6805278.

ENDS

For more information contact:

Lydia Tierney, Fleishman Hillard, DL: 01 6188459 E:

Isobel Jones, Fleishman Hillard, DL: 01 6188415 E: