Over €650,000 raised for Kildare charity Barretstown

Founded in 1994 at Ballymore Eustace, Kildare, Barretstown this year celebrates its 30th anniversary and is Ireland's largest and most established provider of therapeutic camps and programmes for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Since 1994, Barretstown has served over 125,000 campers.

This year alone, Barretstown will serve over 22,000 campers, through residential programmes at Barretstown and outreach programmes in hospitals and schools throughout Ireland.

The funds were raised through a strategic community-focused approach by Dealz and Pepco, harnessing the passion of their 78 stores, 2,500 colleagues, over 2 million customers and network of suppliers to support the vital work of Barretstown.

Innovative campaigns such as Pennies and the festive Reindeer Food Appeal captured the imagination of the public.

The Pennies campaign encourages customers to make a micro donation of 25 cents at Dealz and Pepco stores throughout the country, and due to the generosity of shoppers this is one of the most successful appeals to date.

Through ongoing fundraising and corporate partnerships such as Dealz and Pepco, Barretstown has served over 125,000 campers, across 13 different illness groups and aims to support over 250,000 by the end of this decade. All services provided to children and their families are entirely free of charge.

"On behalf of all the children, families, volunteers and staff at Barretstown, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Dealz and Pepco for their continued support," said CEO of Barretstown, Dee Ahearn.

"It is through partnerships like this, that we can, not only continue to provide but expand our services to children with cancer and other serious illnesses, and their families. So much so, Barretstown is now considered a vital part of the Irish healthcare system.

"We at Barretstown, look forward to continuing to work with Dealz and Pepco on fantastic campaigns, which will allow us to deliver our shared ambition to help and support as many children and families as possible".