Autism Support Louth & Meath receives €25,000 funding from Tesco 25 Years Community Fund

Tesco Ireland has announced that Autism Support Louth & Meath at Drogheda ABACAS Special School has been awarded €25,000 worth of funding from its once-off 25 Years Community Fund.

This funding will help the organisation to install specialised outdoor sensory musical instruments in its newly developed sensory garden for use by the children attending Drogheda ABACAS Special School, youth club participants and families attending meet-ups.

Local groups and charitable organisations from all over Ireland were invited to apply for a chance of winning the one-off funding. Initially, €100,000 was available to four causes across Dublin, Leinster, Munster and Connacht and Ulster. However, with an overwhelming number of applications in each area, Tesco decided to give two more causes in each area an injection of funding to help support their next projects. In total, Tesco has donated €130,000 to groups across Ireland as part of this initiative, in addition to the ongoing support it provides to local good causes every 12 weeks.

Drogheda ABACAS School for Children with Autism and complex needs was founded 20 years ago by a group of parents called Autism Support Louth and Meath with the main aim of improving the supports for autistic people and their families. The school is now fully recognised by the Department of Education and is regarded as a centre of best practice, where it runs parent support groups, training and information nights, advocacy and information for families and summer camps.

As Tesco Ireland marks 25 years of operating in Ireland, it has been celebrating and recognising the thousands of good causes and local projects all over Ireland that work to support and build thriving communities. Over 650 local causes from all over Ireland applied to ‘The 25 Years Community Fund’.

The hotly contested judging took place last week with a panel comprising broadcaster and presenter, Blathnaid Treacy; Tesco Ireland Communications Director, Rosemary Garth; Business in The Community, CEO, Tomás Sercovich; Grants and Donor Services Executive at The Community Foundation for Ireland, Shreya Chaturvedi; and Assistant Principal at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deborah Dignam.

Speaking at the winners’ announcement Rosemary Garth, Communications Director, Tesco Ireland said: “To celebrate 25 years of Tesco Ireland, we wanted to do something really special to celebrate the various community groups and causes who give so much of their time and efforts to supporting our local communities.

What an exciting process this has been; having so many fantastic entries meant that making a decision was incredibly tough, and that’s why we decided to announce runner-up funding for each area. We believe we have chosen truly deserving winners and we can’t wait to see their plans come to fruition over the next few months.”

Broadcaster Blathnaid Treacy added “It’s been an absolute joy to be a part of the judging panel for The 25 Years Community Fund and I found it very inspiring going through all of the entries for the competition. Although there can only be one winner from each region, it was such a tough decision to make, but I’m delighted for all of the groups.”

Tesco Ireland has been a longstanding supporter of local communities throughout Ireland, supporting the issues that matter most where customers and colleagues live and work. The 25 Years Community Fund is an extension of the Tesco Community Fund programme and since 2014, the programme has donated over €7 million to more than 22,000 national and local causes, helping to build and support thriving communities all over Ireland.