RAG Charity Cheque Presentation to IMNDA
Charity Abseil Completes a Year of Student Fundraising Efforts in aid of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA)
Students of TU Dublin took part in a charity abseil challenge over the May Bank Holiday weekend, to raise some much-needed funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA). The event which took place on Saturday April 29th, saw students abseil up Smithfield’s iconic Generator Skyview Tower, in the process pushing the overall total raised for this year’s designated charity to €12,159.60.
The event forms part of ‘Raising and Giving’ (RAG), an annual fundraising initiative organised by TU Dublin Students’ Union, which engages students in a host of events to collectively raise funds for their chosen charity throughout the academic year. When Ian Kelly, Vice President for Events and Engagement at TU Dublin Students’ Union, initially suggested IMNDA as the designated charity for 2022/23, he had some very personal reasons for doing so.
“A few years back my mother came home from a hospital appointment and told me that she had Motor Neurone Disease. I had no idea what it was, at the time I had never heard of it, but awareness of the condition had been made popular in recent years via the viral Ice Bucket Challenge trend. I quickly jumped onto google and my whole world fell apart. At the time, not only was there no cure but they weren’t even sure what caused it.”
Describing the events experienced by his family in the months following his mother’s diagnosis as ‘a whirlwind’, Ian says, "Very early on in the process we were put in contact with the IMNDA. To be honest I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for my family. For an organisation that receives no government funding their care was second to none.” As part of their service, the organisation arranged for a dedicated nurse to visit Ian’s mother regularly to check in on her, something that Ian says, “is even more astonishing to me now that I know they only have five nurses in the whole country.”
Following the death of his mother, Ian was determined to support IMNDA as they continued to help those living with the disease. “In recent years a technology has been developed via the iPad that gives a voice to people with MND. Through helping raise funds to supply this vital equipment to those with the disease, our students could be responsible for helping to give a voice back to someone who has lost theirs.” Expressing his delight at the amount raised for IMNDA, Ian added, “For me it is a nice way to honour my mother’s memory.” Read Ian’s story here.
Our RAG Charity of the Year for 22/23
We're also delighted to announce that our RAG Charity of the Year for 2022/23 is the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association. We're delighted to be fundraising on behalf of yet another amazing Charity and we hope you can help us raise vital funds throughout the next academic year.
What is RAG?
RAG stands for ‘Raising And Giving’. Each year TU Dublin SU will raise money for our chosen charity through events across the year. Every year students can nominate deserving charities which are then asked to come in and present themselves to your Student Council. The Councillors then vote on who they would like to support for the year.
How can I get involved?
We will be hosting a wide range of events over the course of the year from bucket shakes to RAG events but we can’t achieve our goal without the help of volunteers. If you would like to host your own event from a bake sale or want to do a sponsored skydive contact our events officer on each campus: