Christmas FM has returned to the airwaves with An Post, Tesco Ireland and Cadbury on board as sponsors. The station will raise funds and awareness for charity partner Focus Ireland by sprinkling lots of festive cheer across Ireland in the run up to the Christmas season!
According to Focus Ireland, family homelessness has more than doubled in the past year with an average of more than 77 families becoming homeless in Ireland every month. During the first six months of 2016 more than 500 families became homeless and a third of people living in homeless accommodation are children. Every cent of every donation raised by Christmas FM for Focus Ireland will directly go towards the organisation’s goal to support over 300 families out of homelessness. Focus Ireland believes that everyone deserves a place to call home and they work tirelessly in their goal to move a family out of homelessness every single day.
Since 2008, Christmas FM has raised over €850,000 for charities including ISPCC, Barnardos, Simon, Age Action, and Aware. Last year, Christmas FM exceeded all previous fundraising targets by raising over a quarter of a million euro (€265,000) for their charity partner Make-A-Wish Ireland.
Christmas FM is entirely funded through sponsorship and run each year by more than 100 volunteers who participate across the on-air production and promotion of the station, each devoting between 20 and 50 hours of their time.
Garvan Rigby, co-founder of Christmas FM, says: “We are delighted to be back on air for our ninth year and excited to welcome An Post back as sponsor for the second year as well as our two new sponsors Cadbury and Tesco Ireland. We’d also like to thank the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin, which is home to the radio station again this year.”
According to Suzanne Quinn, head of customer marketing with Tesco Ireland: “It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas and we’re delighted to partner with the Christmas FM team this year to help spread festive cheer. We know that the biggest gift at Christmas is from the hosts, so this Christmas; we want to make the job of hosting easier and more enjoyable than ever before. You’ll find everything from our finest party food and mince pies to perfect puddings and festive tipples ready and waiting for you in store and online. To make this Christmas extra special we’ll be giving customers & Christmas FM listeners the chance to win a magical family trip to Lapland to visit Santa as well as sharing helpful hints and tips for those hosting Christmas.”
Speaking about the partnership, Tricia Burke, senior brand manager with Cadbury added: “Christmas is our favourite time of the year at Cadbury and what better way to celebrate that than by partnering with Christmas FM, to coincide with our Cadvent Convoy campaign. The station has gone from strength to strength since its inception, growing its listenership in Ireland and across the world. We are delighted to be partnering with a radio station that not only spreads festive cheer and joy, but also supports very worthy causes.”
Ciara Sheridan, Marketing Communications Manager at An Post, adds, “An Post is proud to sponsor Christmas FM once again this year. An Post is at the heart of Christmas in Ireland, helping people to send their greetings to loved ones at home and abroad. Similarly, Christmas FM have become a central part of Christmas in every home in Ireland over the last nine years and we’re delighted to partner up for such a worthy cause.”
The main radio frequencies for Christmas FM are Dublin City and County 105.2FM, Limerick 105.5FM, Galway 87.7FM, Kildare 88.1FM, Kilkenny 104.3FM, North Midlands 101.6FM, Cork 106.7FM, South East103.8 FM, North East 99.4FM, South Wicklow 106.6FM and North Wicklow is 107.3FM. Christmas FM will also broadcast on Virgin Media Channel 900
