The Irish Refugee Council hosted a Northside For All Solidarity Rally in Dublin this January welcoming refugees who are newly entering Ireland with an impressive turnout. Throughout the country, more communities are organising warm welcomes in the coming months.

Welcome to the January Issue of the We Act Good News Gazette.

We hope you're staying warm and looking forward to the year ahead. In 2023 We Act will continue to share the positive stories of volunteers and staff around the country and celebrate the impact of the charity and community sector.

If you'd like to get involved with the campaign check out our page here and if you have a story you want to share send us an email at info@weact.ie.

We hope you enjoy January's Good News Gazette. If you'd like to share our happy digest, invite your friends to subscribe to our newsletter here.

Alpana Delaney smiles as she takes a photo at one of The Hope Foundation's fundraising events.

Alpana Delaney is the Fundraising and Schools Officer for Leinster for The Hope Foundation (HOPE), a charity working with children and communities in Kolkata, India in areas of child protection, education, healthcare, life skills training and emergency response. 

“I cover Leinster region for HOPE for the fundraising and schools programme I go into schools as a guest speaker and I tell transition year students about HOPE’s work. 9 out of 10 schools will come back and say ‘we'd love to help’ and they come up with all kinds of ways to fundraise everything from collection buckets to non-uniform days and our most popular engagement is the Immersion Programme."

Alpana delivers an information session about The Hope Foundation to TY students.

We also host big fundraising events, like annual lunches, Yoga for HOPE, and our Himalayan walk, but it's not always about going for the big stuff. Sometimes volunteers or students will say, ‘we’d love to host a coffee morning, but we’re not sure how much we’ll raise’. We always assure them whatever they can come up with is so valuable – it might not look like much here, but it can go a long way in Kolkata, it changes the trajectory of our projects.” 

“We fund over 60 projects in Kolkata. Here in Ireland, we only have 14 staff members, but on the ground in India we have over 500 local, trained staff carrying out the projects – doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, and so many more. It’s a huge operation and all our work centres around child protection. Everything we fundraise, goes to our projects that provide emergency relief and response, healthcare, education, and social care. Our vision is to create a world ‘where it should never hurt to be a child’ and I think that beautifully encompasses the vital work we carry out in Kolkata and are extremely proud of.”

Alpana stands with Maura Lennon, International Fundraising Director at The Hope Foundation, during their annual auction.

Prior to working for The Hope Foundation, Alpana ran her own events management company in the UK and found herself predominantly working with charities. In 2018, she came across The Hope Foundation and had an opportunity to work with them. “I always did my research. I'm Indian myself, so it was extremely important for me to make sure that I was working with a charity that's truly helping India. It's doing what it needs to be done and I was amazed.” As things were opening up after the pandemic I knew the next step in my career was to channel my skills to directly benefit a charity and I was at the right place and right time when I approached Maura Lennon, the International Fundraising Director at HOPE, with the idea. I will forever be grateful to her for believing in me. Her wealth of knowledge and experience never fails to inspire me. 

So, following some time volunteering with the company, Alpana applied for the fundraising role. “It didn’t start out full-time, it didn’t start out in a straightforward way, but I knew it would work out. I work with my heart always, and I just knew. Now every day, when I go to work, I know that what needs to be done is happening. Every cent I raise goes exactly where it needs to go, and that makes me feel so proud.” 

HOPE is currently working on their annual fundraising lunch in Dublin on Friday, 19th May in the opulent surroundings of The Westin! Its turning out to be a fabulous event with Brian Kennedy entertaining for the afternoon. Get in touch with Alpana today at alpana@hopefoundation.ie or 0894746389 if you would like to learn more about this event.

We Act is a national, collaborative campaign to celebrate the value and impact of the charities and community groups in Ireland. It is supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development. 

Got a story? Email madeline@wheel.ie

Did you enjoy our Good News Gazette?

Pay it forward and pass on this email to just one friend.