O2 Ireland in the community
Irish Autism Action
O2 Ireland launched its three-year charity partnership with Irish Autism Action (IAA) in January 2006, following a series of employee focus groups to select a charity of choice.
Autism affects a child’s ability to communicate and form relationships. The partnership’s main aim is to create an opportunity for O2 to make a tangible and positive difference to the lives of individuals with autism, and their families, through fundraising, our people and our technology.
O2 is also supporting the IAA in opening SOLAS, the first National Diagnostic and Assessment Centre in Ireland for children with autism. This centre will reduce the current long waiting lists for families wanting to have their child assessed, from a national average of 12 months to three months.
To date we have raised over €123,000 through employee fundraising and corporate funding. This money has helped the IAA to employ a fundraising officer and project manager for its diagnostic centre. O2 has also helped create a new website for IAA and plan to develop an i-mode®a mobile internet site for them. Moreover, between August and December 2006, 23 children have received a diagnosis as a direct result of our fundraising and volunteering activities.
In June 2006, O2 supported the IAA Autism Life Cycle where ten volunteers from St Andrews Gaelic Association club in Carlow cycled across all 32 counties of Ireland to raise funds for Irish Autism Action. Alongside this, over 100 O2 employees also got involved by participating in an employee fundraising cycling challenge in our Dublin and Limerick offices.
More than 200 people from across the business supported IAA during the year. Some of the opportunities included helping to paint and decorate the national diagnostic centre and employees volunteering as Christmas Elves in our O2 retail stores to help wrap presents for our customers, which helped raise further funds for IAA.
Cents from Heaven
We also support the IAA through two payroll-giving schemes, including the new ‘Cents from Heaven’ programme which allows O2 people to donate spare change from their pay packets to the charity. Part of the money donated through the Telefónica O2 Europe’s Can Do Giving payroll scheme was also directed to Irish Autism Action.
O2 Ability Awards
O2 Ireland sponsored its second O2 Ability Awards in 2006 and announced its support for the third in 2007.
The awards acknowledge organisations that recognise the contribution made to business by people with disabilities and diverse needs – both employees and customers.
Entries to the 2007 awards rose by 10 per cent. A total of 75 organisations – a cross-section of business sectors in Ireland – applied to undergo the full disability management audit and assessment. Results are announced at a gala dinner in June 2007, where eight awards will be unveiled. For the first time, an award will be made to the Best Small Company.
O2 Ireland set up an internal diversity programme to support this work in 2006. It includes disability awareness training for employees and a recruitment and induction programme for employees with disabilities. In addition our new offices in Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin are fully accessible.
Total community investment by O2 Ireland
1 February – December 2006.
1 February – December 2006.
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