Ryanair, Ireland’s No 1 airline, today (20 Dec) made a €100,000 donation to ISPCC Childline, its 2018 chosen Irish charity partner, as it concluded a year of fundraising activities with a plane naming and holiday competition.

Childline is the only 24-hour listening service which seeks to support and empower children and young people in Ireland with almost 90% of its funding raised through corporate and individual donations. Childline will receive over 1,000 calls on Christmas Day this year and Ryanair’s support will help ensure the service is there for children 24 hours a day, every day.

A number of fundraising initiatives were held throughout 2018 including a digital donation day hosted on Ryanair.com and a “Name the Plane & Fly to Spain” donation competition, which was won by the Johnson family from Dundalk . Ryanair thanked all of its customers who supported its charity partnership over the past three years, who have helped raise over €300,000 for Childline.

Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:

 “Ryanair is proud to partner with ISPCC Childline and support the invaluable work they do to help children in need and the €100,000 donated will enable them to continue to provide a vital range of services. We have held a number of fundraising efforts in conjunction with Childline throughout 2018 and we wish to thank everyone who supported our events. We look forward to hosting further charity events in 2019.”  

ISPCC CEO John Church said:

 “Ryanair has helped to change the lives of children and young people in Ireland for the better through its support for our Childline service over the past three years. Childline costs €3.5 million to run every year and relies on corporate and public donations for over 90 per cent of its funding. Through their enthusiastic commitment to supporting the service, Ryanair, its staff and customers have helped to keep the lights on at Childline and help to ensure we are there for every child and young person in Ireland at every hour of every day and night.”