Currys, Ireland’s leading electrical retailer, has renewed its partnership with Cork based charity, My Canine Companion for another year, to help them continue to support autistic children with service dogs.
Since the partnership began in November 2021, it has gone from strength to strength with Currys introducing companywide initiatives including:
• Pennies micro donation service: Customers can donate 50 cent to My Canine Companion when they're making a card transaction in any of the 16 Currys stores nationwide.
• Autism friendly store nights: From 4pm until close every Thursday, the music and screen displays will be turned off across all stores.
• Accredited training: Both store and corporate colleagues have received Autism Awareness & Understanding training with the Willow Tree Autism Project.
• Black Friday eve shopping event: On the night before Black Friday, known to be one of the busiest shopping days of the year, all 16 Currys stores opened one hour later to accommodate those who need extra time and space to shop.
The electrical giant has also raised €123,000 in funds over the past 12 months, this equates to training for 12 service dogs. Overall, Currys has committed to raise €170,000 for the organisation.
Pauline Browne Marketing & E-Commerce Director at Currys Ireland with Niall Ruddy, CEO My Canine Companion and Jack the Labradoodle
The money will help to train 17 service dogs for children on the autism spectrum, providing enormous assistance to the same number of families - one for every one of the 16 Currys stores nationwide. The 17th dog represents its online store; www.currys.ie. Currys will continue its fundraising efforts in 2023, committing to raise a minimum of a further €50,000 to achieve its target.
Pauline Browne, Marketing & E-Commerce Director at Currys Ireland commented:
“My Canine Companion provides vital support to autistic children and their families so it’s an honour for Currys to be able to help them continue their important work. Thanks to our dedicated colleagues and loyal customers, we have raised €123,000 over the past year. Our target is to fundraise €170,000, enough to train 17 service dogs, one for each of the Currys stores nationwide plus one to represent our online presence.
We were also keen to use the partnership to help those with autism and their families enjoy a more comfortable shopping experience. From launching autism friendly evenings to providing visual and audio additional aids in store, we’re very proud of the work completed in this area.”
Niall Ruddy, CEO My Canine Companion said:
“We are delighted to announce that our fantastic partnership with Currys is to continue after a very successful year working with the company. The partnership has enabled us to continue to be the largest provider of service dogs to children and young adults with autism in Ireland. It has also helped us to grow our schools therapy programme with now over 20 school therapy dogs helping 1,000s of school going children across the country.
We would like to thank the staff and management of Currys for their hard work and dedication to the partnership so far and look forward to working with them into the future. We also want to thank all of Currys’ customers who contributed at the tills to our work through the Pennies initiative. Every cent is making that difference and changing lives.”
To donate to support My Canine Companion and the amazing work they do, visit here.
Slán go fóill.