I hope you’re managing to stay safe and well in these difficult times. The Coronavirus pandemic is, of course, dominating all our thoughts and has resulted in a shocking loss of life and huge disruption to all aspects of our lives. Apart from the obvious health and economic effects, our social and sporting activities have been put completely on hold. Cricketers should be enjoying the start of the season by now, but this has had to be postponed until late July at the earliest. I should be down by the white wall in Terenure reminiscing with my fellow “mature” colleagues about former exploits, which, like good wine, improve with age!
The Charity Sector has also been exceptionally badly hit and I will outline below how the virus has impacted on Lord’s Taverners Ireland.
Results for 2019.
Firstly, let me summarise our results for 2019. This was a very successful year and we were able to build on the considerable achievements of previous years.
Revenue
We were the beneficiaries of two major fundraising events during the year:
(1) The RevUp Motorcycle Event, organised by the Dead Ducks Motor Cycle Club and held over the May Bank Holiday, raised over €31,000 from sponsorship. This was a fantastic achievement and we are extremely grateful to them for their amazing support.
(2) Our Christmas Lunch was again a really great success and enabled us to generate a net profit of over €43,000.
The annual Golf Outing was a resounding social success and contributed over €3,000. We also benefited from subscriptions and other donations of over €25,000.
Expenditure
What did we do with this money? We focused on three main areas:
(1) Two Buses: In 2019 we were able to contribute the €52,000 needed, after contributions from the recipients, to purchase two buses. These were configured to enable children with special needs to participate in sporting activities. The beneficiaries were Kerry Wheelblasters (in Tralee) and The Arch Club in Portmarnock. I had the privilege of presenting the keys to the buses at the Christmas Lunch.
(2) Table Cricket: We are the nominated Charity Partner of Cricket Leinster. Given our history and our origins, this is a vital partnership for us. Table Cricket is a very fast growing sport and enables children with special needs to participate in a competitive activity. Lord’s Taverners Ireland makes a major contribution to the cost of this Cricket Leinster programme- last season, this amounted to a payment from us of nearly €18,000. We are very grateful to Naomi Scott Hayward, who has enthusiastically promoted and developed Table Cricket in recent years.
(3) Other Equipment: We were also delighted to be able to purchase other sporting equipment last year amounting to €16,000 in total. This included two soccer powerchairs which cost €10,000.
Prospects for 2020.
The Coronavirus pandemic is having a serious adverse effect on our fundraising in a number of ways:
(1) RevUp Motor Cycle Weekend (organised by Dead Ducks Motor Cycle Club): this was due to take place on the May Bank Holiday Weekend, but has had to be cancelled. We had hoped that this event would have raised even more than last year- over €35,000- so its cancellation is a particular setback.
Current Charity Work by The Dead Ducks Motor Cycle Club: The Members of the Club have, however, been extremely busy in recent weeks using their bikes to deliver medical equipment and supplies to hospitals and nursing homes literally all over the country. Please use this link https://revup-2020.everydayhero.com/ie/revup-2020-registration-deposits if you would like to show your appreciation for what they do and assist RevUp/Lord’s Taverners Ireland continue helping young people wth special needs by making an appropriate donation. A contribution of any amount would be very gratefully received.
(2) Christmas Lunch 2020: The prospects for our Christmas Lunch this year are unclear. We will inform you of our plans as soon as these have been clarified.
(3) Golf Outing: Our annual golf outing was scheduled to take place 14th August 2020 but due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions the decision has been made to cancel the event.
Impact on our Charitable Giving:
We are currently reviewing how we can best operate within the constraints imposed by our seriously reduced fundraising activity. There are a number of activities that we are very keen to support:
(1) Partnership with IWA Sport: Earlier this year, we agreed to nominate IWA Sport, a division within the Irish Wheelchair Association, as our Preferred Recipient partner. We have committed to them that we will contribute €13,000 this year towards the cost of vans which will be used to organise sporting events for children with a physical disability.
(2) Table Cricket: We hope to be able to continue to support the efforts being made by Cricket Leinster to develop Table Cricket.
(3) Other Applications: We are also considering a number of other worthy applications for support. We would like to help these but this, of course, is subject to the necessary funds being available.
To carry out our plans, we absolutely need the continued support of our members and friends. I would like to thank you for all the assistance you have given us in the past and hope that you will also contribute generously this year.
Be sure to look after yourselves,
Paul Farrell - Chairman