04 April 2017

Douglas Court Shopping Centre is pleased to announce that the RNLI Fundraising Branch Cork City has been named as the official ‘Douglas Court Shopping Centre Charity Partner of the Year’ for the coming year.

Ten much loved Cork charities were shortlisted to be in with an opportunity to win, and from February 17th to March 10th almost 8,000 people cast their vote to select the charity which would benefit from the inaugural charity partnership with the Centre.

Through this partnership, the RNLI will receive a €1,000 Douglas Court Gift Voucher for the charity to use as they wish, a number of collection days throughout the year at the Centre, and many other benefits from now until March 2018.

The RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea, has 46 lifeboat stations around Ireland and 57 lifeboats that cover 1,400 miles of coastline. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, it has saved over 140,000 lives. 95% of RNLI people are volunteers, and in Ireland there are 960 volunteer crew, 190 volunteer shore crew, and 1,100 volunteer fundraisers, plus thousands of other dedicated volunteers who raise awareness, give safety advice and help in RNLI museums, shops and offices.

Brian Curtin, RNLI Community Fundraising Manager said: ‘As a charity, whether it’s volunteering your time, raising money or supporting us in other ways, the RNLI relies on the public’s generosity to save lives at sea. It’s an honour to be chosen as the first ever ‘Douglas Court Shopping Centre Charity Partner of the Year’ and we intend to make full use of the many opportunities that have been generously offered by the Centre to raise awareness and vital funds for the services provided by the RNLI.’

The ‘Douglas Court Shopping Centre Charity Partner of the Year’ is a brand new venture for Douglas Court and they plan to make it an annual activity as a way of giving back to the community and raising awareness for the associated charities.

Speaking about the new initiative, Keith Kenny, Manager at Douglas Court Shopping Centre said “Thank you so much to everyone who voted for all ten worthy charities throughout the campaign. It was fantastic to see so much support for each charity, with people voting in their thousands! We look forward to helping many more charities in the future through this and other initiatives. And we wish our selected partner for the coming year, the RNLI, all the best in their fundraising endeavours with us.”

The ten charities shortlisted were The Mercy Foundation, Cork Association for Autism, RNLI Cork, Cork ARC Cancer Support, Penny Dinners, Irish Guide Dogs, Cork Simon Community, Pieta House, CUH Children’s Charity, and Marymount. People cast their votes for their favourite on the Douglas Court Facebook page and at the information desk in the Centre.

For further information visit www.douglascourt.ie and find it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.