Our Way of Saying Thank You

We Say Thank You

One of ActionAid’s priorities from the outset (early 1970s) was our passion to connect supporters closely with our work supporting children, and especially our work on children’s education.

This manifested in child sponsorship, creating a unique direct connection between a person, a couple or family in Ireland, with a child, his or her family and their wider community in Kenya, Uganda, Nepal, Vietnam, and Cambodia. That regular gift is so powerful. As it means ActionAid can stay with and build a transformation in grassroots communities over a number of years. Thousands of children’s (now adults’) lives were transformed by this generous choice made by many people in Ireland since the 1970s.

We know from experience that achieving real change – ending poverty, improving incomes, promoting equality – doesn’t happen in a few short years. It takes time to build trust and identify the real drivers for change. And to empower communities to address the problems holding them back. And it takes time to stick with the painstaking work of changing lives for good in grassroots communities.

Since joining ActionAid in 2015 my admiration is undimmed for the many generous, kind supporters in Ireland, some of whom are connected with communities in poorer parts of the world for more than 30 years. And I have been looking for opportunities to say thank you for this wonderful support.

Meeting Our Supporters

We made a specific commitment in our current strategy to meet at least 10% of our supporters in person over the next three years.

We do this because want to say THANK you personally. And to appreciate our long-standing supporters in person. We want to give supporters the chance to meet colleagues from the countries they sponsor who are working on the ground. And also to have the opportunity to hear their testimonies, the stories of transformative change and have any questions answered. In addition it is an opportunity to meet me and our volunteer Board members.

So far we’ve held six lovely, fun evenings in 2018 and 2019.

What I didn’t expect was the question “what more can we do?” and the many offers of further help in our mission. I have had people reach out with practical suggestions to help raise more funds. Or to introduce me to prospective supporters. And even to commit to giving a legacy – the amazing gift of giving goes on.

Our next supporter evening is on in September and you are most welcome to join us. You can email [email protected]

Pictures taken at our supporter events in 2018 and 2019.