Christmas comes to town early for the launch of ‘I Believe in Christmas’
This evening Wednesday, 3rd December 2014, at The chq Building in Dublin’s Docklands prominent figures from business, politics, arts, media and social justice will gather for the new launch of “I Believe in Christmas”. The purpose of the event is to encourage public and corporate participation for the campaign in 2015.
This new festive initiative aims to bring the true spirit of Christmas back to the capital for the month of December 2015 and ensure every child in Dublin has a quality of life and the basic right to live in a warm and safe environment.
An iconic Christmas tree representing protection, shelter and love will be at the core of this new concept. The hope is that each day Dubliners can bring a gift to support Santa and those in need whilst enjoying traditional Christmas stories and post their letters in North Pole post office. In addition, an Irish food and craft market will also be created bringing the opportunity to support Irish goods and offer a festive retail outlet.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Christy Burke will discuss the serious situation of homelessness and dark reality of poverty for those in the city before introducing a video featuring the real children of Dublin who desperately need warmth, shelter, food and a gift from Santa at Christmas. Representing ‘Inner City Helping Homeless’ the video will feature Anthony Flynn highlighting the latest figures of over 700 children and 2,500 families in Dublin currently living in emergency accommodation. Monica Rowe from Childline also states in the video they expect over 1,400 daily calls from children during the Christmas period.
“I believe in Christmas” aspires to be a magical month-long inclusive event that encourages all Dubliners to give, share and believe. MC on the night Alan Short will urge all attendees to consider pledging their support for “I Believe in Christmas” and make a miracle in Dublin happen for Christmas 2015.
With 386 days until the festivities in 2015, Mervyn Greene, Director, CHQ Dublin Ltd. and a leading force behind this initiative commented: “‘I believe in Christmas’ aims to make a big impact and ensure everyone in the city experiences the true spirit of Christmas. With Dublin’s most vulnerable in dire need of a Christmas miracle we decided to launch extra early to ensure potential donors and corporate partners have enough time to make this Christmas miracle a reality in 2015 and hopefully many year’s after.”
Other supporters behind “I believe in Christmas” include Lucy McCaffrey, Chairperson, Dublin Port and Paul Clegg, Executive Manager, Dublin Docklands Development Authority as well as Padraic O’Kane, CEO, Corporate.ie.
