Limerick students raise €15,000 for local charities
DONATIONS totaling €15,000 have been made to two local charities following this year's Charity Week at University of Limerick.
Rape Crisis Midwest and Jigsaw Limerick will each receive €7,500, which was raised by UL students through a number of events as part of the annual event.
The two charities were chosen by UL students at the beginning of the academic year, with all fundraising initiatives geared towards raising vital funds for both organisation across both semesters.
Rape Crisis Midwest support victims of rape and sexual assault and offers counselling services to victims of rape / sexual assault and to adult survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse. The Mid-West branch of the charity also support the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at UHL and offer services such as Court and Garda accompaniment and therapy for carers and family members.
Karen O’Donnell O’Connor, Director of Rape Crisis Midwest says the organisation “couldn’t be more thankful” to receive these funds raised by UL Students.
“The money that is contributed to our centre will be used to support these services for survivors, their families, and supporters. Unfortunately, the area of rape and sexual assault is not going away. In fact, the recent CSO figures are telling us it’s becoming more and more prevalent so there’s a need for the service and we’re really appreciative of the recognition that UL student life has given us, and UL students have given us.
Jigsaw Limerick is a free, non-judgemental, and confidential mental health support service for young people aged 12 – 25 living, working, or studying Limerick City and County. They provide guidance and support for young people who are going through a difficult or distressing time. They also provide advice and guidance for anyone who is concerned about a young person in their life.
Aoife Walsh, Youth and Community Engagement worker at Jigsaw Limerick, commented: “This money will go towards helping those young people directly, without it, we couldn’t exist. Jigsaw depends on funding to run so we are really grateful for it.”
Outgoing Student President Maeve Rutledge said: “Charity Week is known as one of the key calendar dates of the year for students and this year saw our biggest ever line-up with the support of UL50. The students voted for these two particular charities, and we are delighted to present the vital funds they’ve raised today to two amazing charities.”
Charity Week, which took place during March, is organised and run by UL Student Life and led by their Events & Engagement team.