Selfie success for cancer

A social media phenomenon which first gained traction last week has so far raised over €750,000 in donations for the Irish Cancer Society - and Longford people certainly were not shy about getting in on the act.

Using the ‘#nomakeupselfie’ hashtag, women across the country have been posting No Make-up Selfies - photos of themselves without any make-up - to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, and making a €4 text donation to the society via SMS.

When posting the images, most also nominate a number of friends to do the same.

Men have also gotten in on the act by uploading photos of themselves dolled-up with eyeliner, blusher, and lipstick for the cause.

Last Friday, some of the staff at the Longford Leader posted their own No Make-up Selfies on on the Longford Leader Facebook page and the paper offered to donate €100 to the Irish Cancer Society if 100 of the paper’s Facebook followers followed their lead and posted their own images.

The response of local women, and quite a few men, was overwhelming with over 120 selfies being posted in the first day.

Encouraged by this, the newspaper decided to aim for the 200 selfie target with a promise of donating €200 euro if it was achieved.

That target was reached yesteday, Tuesday, and the paper will donate €200 to the Irish Cancer Society this week.

To make a €4 donation by phone, simply text PINK to 50300.