Trip home to Lusk top of agenda
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CHRISTMAS is a time for giving and all of the country's great charitable organisations are acutely aware of that with the festive seasons crucially important in swelling their coffers so they can plan for the new year.
No different is the worldwide and hugely respected international aid organisation, Concern, which is run by a man who spent his youth in Lusk and returns their regularly to visit his siblings who still live in the area. That man is Tom Arnold, and this week he spoke to the Fingal Independent about what Christmas means both to him personally and to Concern. The organisation has just completed its most important and high-profile public fundraiser of the year in the Concern Christmas Fast which nets about € 1 million for the organisation each year. But that is only a fraction of the fundraising required to support the organisation's great work across 25 countries worldwide which is principally raised from Governments and international organisations like the UN.
Mr Arnold admits that his sector, like all others in the economy, has been hit by the recession. He said that while the ordinary public remains hugely generous with their contributions to the charity, there has been 'substantial cuts' in funding at Governmental level which includes foreign Governments as well as our own. But new sources of funding have opened up the organisation too which won against fierce competition from organisations around the world to secure € 40 million for a maternal and child health programme in Africa from the Gates Foundation, bankrolled by Microsoft billionaire, Bill Gates.
After his annual visit to the United States just before the festive season, Mr Arnold is planning a few well-earned days off to spend with his family this Christmas. A family Christmas is not always possible in this job though and previous festive seasons have been interrupted by international emergencies like the Indonesian Tsunami in 2004.
Barring natural disasters, Mr Arnold hopes to return to Lusk over Christmas and visit a number of his siblings who still live in the area. He wishes all supporters of Concern a happy and healthy Christmas.
- John MANNING
