Why do we need your help?
The Red Door School receives limited funding from the Department of Education. However, these funds don't cover the full range of costs and activities, such as Speech & Language and Occupational Therapy services. We also need to fund-raise for our extra-curricular activities, such as music and yoga classes, as well as specialist teaching aids and staff training costs.
We are also seeking sponsorship for our International Autism Conference, and the development of our community project. For all these reasons, we need to raise our own funds every year in order to maintain and develop the range of services that we provide.
Table Quiz
Goat Pub, Thurs 2nd Feb 2012, 8pm
Our next annual event is our Table Quiz, on Thursday 2nd February 2012 at The Goat Pub. Call Edel on (01) 663 7532 to book a table - €20 per person fee charged. Great prizes!
Christmas 2011 Bonanza
This Christmas, our friends came up trumps with a fantastic selection of special events - all held to raise funds for The Red Door charity. We are extremely grateful for the effort put into each of these, and we want to pass on our thanks to all the contributors who helped to make this a very special Christmas.
Christmas Day Swim
25th December, Seapoint
Yep, we did it again . . . Some of us can't sit down for Christmas Dinner before a quick (very quick) dip in the fresh air of Dublin Bay. Others do it at the 40 Foot, but this gang usually do their thing at Seapoint. Red Door Parents Ivan, Gavin, Peter and David were joined by friends and family. But the hero of the day was young Conor whose sister attends The Red Door. Conor led the charge into the chilly waters. No hesitation! Thankfully, those waters were nearly tropical in comparison to last year's arctic conditions.
Conor is accepting sponsorship for his heroic deeds on MyCharity.ie here. He set himself a huge target of raising €1,000 - so please help him!
Red Door Christmas Ceili
9th December, Mount Merrion
Deirdre Farrell organised the first annual Christmas Ceili in Mount Merrion Community Centre. Chaney Farrell Academy of Irish Dance put on a great show.
Sponsored Hike
16th December, Killiney
Muckross Park Secondary School Transition Year girls planned a sponsored hike in Killiney on the 16th December, subject to weather! Well done Lucy and friends.
West End Student Singers
16th December, The Urdang Academy, London
Students at The Urdang Academy - London's leading training college for the performing arts - gave a sparkling recital of Christmas Carols for all-comers on 16th December. These stars of the future sang their hearts out. Well done Sophie and friends.
Chistmas gifts for friends and family
We had Christmas cards and great Autism Awareness gifts for you to give to family and friends. See our full list of perfect stock fillers here.
No postage charges - special prices - and all proceeds go to The Red Door charity. Buy early for Christmas 2012 . . .
Dublin City Marathon
31st October 2011
What heros! They ran, they jogged and they walked - but they all made the finishing line. Whilst over 14,000 people took part, we want to thank specifically all of those friends who raised funds for The Red Door.
For a report on the event, click here. For those interested in the 2012 event, on 29th October next, they are now open for entries here.
Best Will in the World Week
17th - 21st October 2011
The Red Door has joined over 60 other Irish charities in MyLegacy.ie to promote a joint initiative which aims to raise public awareness of the importance of making a will and leaving charitable bequests in wills.
During October, we are promoting members of the general public to visit a local participating solicitor to have a will drawn up or changed and to consider leaving a legacy to their favourite charity.
Through the Best Will in the World Week (17th - 21st Oct), you can get professional, impartial advice on your will for just €50, while also helping a favourite charity after you are gone. Leaving a legacy is a simple, wonderfully fulfilling experience and anyone can do it. It doesn't matter how big or small the gift is - all contributions will make a lasting difference. Click here for more details.
RIYC Lunch
16th September 2011
Ladies, you always come up trumps. Good food, great food - and lots of chat, and all the while, our raffle ticket sellers worked overtime. This annual fundraiser continues to be a favourite, and we want to thank everyone who came along and helped us raise a considerable sum.
The setting and the weather were great, a perfect way to start off the new school year.
Women's Mini-Marathon
6th June 2011
An annual favourite - this is a great event for having fun, getting fitter and raising funds. This year's event happened on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th June 2011.
The Red Door want to thank all our friends who run, jogged and walked the distance. A considerable sum was raised, and we are grateful for every one of the tem thousand metres travelled. Not surprisingly, everyone also had a great time doing it - so we look forward to a repeat performance next year?
10th Golf Classic
13th May 2011
This is our annual life-saver. Not only is it a huge success, every year, in raising funds, but it is a great day and night out. With this year being our 10th, we promised an extra-special event, and we got just that.
We had almost 30 teams playing in the comfortable and convenient setting of Foxrock Golf Club. Our 2010 winners were there to defend their trophy - one that they coveted after 8 years of trying to win it. To mark their position as defending champs, they decided to enter their respective spouses/partners as a separate Women's team. There was a bit of sharp humour as they all teed off - but the smiles were on the ladies' faces as they pipped their 'other halves' in winning the trophy!
Apart from this His-n-Hers battle royale, all the other teams enjoyed a great day out, and we had our usual selection of golf prizes and raffle prizes as well as great food and good craic on the night. Click here for more info.
Looking forward to our 11th Golf Classic already . . .
Mount Kilimanjaro
Nick Baird is just back from a massive trip to Africa. He headed off to Tanzania on 18th February 2011 in an attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and to raise much needed funds for the The Red Door. He reached the summit on Thursday 24th Feb - and he even got to wear our t-shirt for the photo-shoot! We are delighted to report that he got down safe and sound as well. A fantastic achievement.
He's aiming for a total of €7,500 - and you can help him here.
Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 meters (19,341ft) is the highest mountain in Africa and the largest freestanding mountain in the world. Climbing it represented a huge challenge. What was Nick's first question when he got home? "Who won in Murrayfield". We send Nick our sincere thanks for his huge effort. "It's a really worthy cause", says Nick. Read his blog here.
Coming Soon . . . Sky-Dive!
And arguably equally brave, albeit more brief in duration, we have some hardy souls who are going to do a SkyDive - all to raise funds for The Red Door. What can we say?
Simply fantastic (or madness?).
Strictly?
This new event is now fully booked out! But watch this space for the next one, where we have a Sunday tea-time reserved for some soft-shoe with some of our senior citizens ...
Just Mobile
JUST Mobile is Ireland's newest prepay mobile network, offering reduced prices for calls, texts and internet access. They are selling through local Spar/Mace shops, and they have started a quirky marketing ad campaign.
A key part of their package includes an option for customers who move to their network to nominate a charity, which means that they will allocate 1c per call per minute to the customer's charity. We've registered as "RedDoor" - so customers can choose us by texting CAUSE REDDOOR to 087 1691527. This scheme does not cost the customer anything. Just Mobile will pay The Red Door a monthly cheque based on the number of calls made from customers who have registered our charity with them. Easy, eh? Pick up their leaflet in your local Spar/Mace.
Acknowledgements . . .
Microsoft
We were delighted to receive several reconditioned PC’s from Microsoft, as part of their GIVE IT campaign. We want to acknowledge the support that Microsoft are providing to their local community and The Red Door in particular. These PC’s are as good as new – and will save us the considerable expense of having to buy replacement PC’s.
Tara's Palace Trust
Tara’s Palace is one of the world’s most magnificent Dolls Palaces. Located in the grounds of Malahide Castle, it is a "must see". Incredibly, all admission fees go 100% without any deductions to children's charities. The Red Door was thrilled to receive a contribution from Tara's Palace Trust.
Previous Events . . .
Valentine's Coffee Morning 11th Feb 2011
A 'Valentines' coffee morning was held in aid of the Red Door on Friday 11th February in the Cabinteely Parish Centre.
We had a great turn-out, and apart from the tea, coffe and bikkies, we had great raffle prizes for lucky punters. Many thanks to everyone who came. We raised almost €2,000 on the day, which was fantastic.
Christmas Day & New Year's Day Swims
Yes - you've read that right. Madness took place at Seapoint on Christmas Day, when a few brave - nay foolish - souls took to the icy waters. More pictures will follow ... Due to the road conditions, we had to change plans so that our Forty Foot event was moved to New Year's Day - when all of our intrepid swimmers joined in and dived in. One poor sod did both events.
Given the below-freezing arctic temperature that they suffered, we're expecting severe consequences for those who don't cough up well-deserved sponsorship. Our swimmers have form - they will stop at nothing in the quest to earn major brownie points.
You can still donate on-line via our MyCharity page ... and we've just crossed the €1,000 barrier ... (Note to editor: we need female participation next year!)
Special Donations
We want to acknowledge the contribution from People-in-Need in 2009, who contributed a fantastic €20,000 towards the cost of specialist teaching aids and equipment.
We also want to acknowledge a special donation received in Christmas 2009 from Monkstown Educate Together. METNS were the previous occupants of our current "new" premises, and we were delighted to receive their donation. METNS have moved on to brand new premises on Kill Avenue, whilst The Red Door is now occupying their "old" portacabins in Monkstown. Both schools are delighted with these arrangements! We wish METNS all the best, and thank them for their donation to The Red Door.
Corporate Donations
We are extremely grateful to O2 for their Affinity Scheme grants to The Red Door. This scheme has resulted on over €200,000 being paid by O2 to IAA (Irish Autism Action) for distribution to various member groups, and The Red Door has received over €15,000 so far. This scheme involved O2 customers requesting that 5% of their call charge being donated to their IAA member of choice. It is coming to a close shortly, but has been run for over the last 12 months.
Separately, O2 staff have come to The Red Door twice over the last 12 months to help with the painting and decorating projects that were undertaken in our new premises. These were part of O2's Volunteer Program, which provided non-cash benefits to recipients of this volunteer scheme.
We also want to acknowledge the donation from Covidien Services which followed a staff visit to The Red Door to see the work that we are doing.
Join our growing list of Friends of The Red Door
If you are inspired to join in any of our upcoming events, or want to organise a separate event, don't hesitate to contact us . . . . Or you can make a donation now via MyCharity.ie.
CHY 14457
All contributions to The Red Door are specifically acknowledged with a receipt issued. If for any reason a contributor has not received a formal receipt, please ask. Note that all contributions are tax-efficient, and you should refer to our Charity Reference CHY 14457.