Shining a light on homelessness in Ireland

Bord Gáis Energy has a successful partnership with leading Irish homelessness charity Focus Ireland since 2015, and over that time has provided €4.4m in funding and supported more than 8,500 families who were experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their home.

Bord Gáis Energy also supports Focus Ireland’s flagship fundraising event, Shine A Light Night, through which businesses, schools, and communities are encouraged to show solidarity with those experiencing hidden homelessness in Ireland and take part in a nationwide sleep out – This annual event aims to raise awareness and funds for thousands of people experiencing homelessness.

With recent reports showing an ever-growing figure of more than 15,000 people in Ireland without a home, our partnership and activities like Shine A Light, is vital to help Focus Ireland continue their fight against family homelessness.

To maximise awareness and funds in the run up to Shine A Light, a Bord Gáis Energy all-colleague event was held to recruit volunteers and drum up donations. We also ran multi-media events and advertising to gain customer and community support – from a new mural created and unveiled in the heart of Temple Bar to encourage public donations, to our ‘unseen but not forgotten’ campaign. Momentum was also built with lots of social media activity across the Bord Gáis and Focus Ireland partnership including support from Irish media personality and Fashion Designer, Brendan Courtney who has been passionately advocating for Shine A Light since 2023.

Shine A Light in 2024 was a big success. Almost 1,000 people took part in the sleep out against homelessness including 60 colleagues, the highest ever participation rate, which raised a total of €142,300 to support the vital work of Focus Ireland. Of this, our generous Bord Gáis Energy customers directly donated over €11,800 to the cause through Bord Gáis Energy’s Unmissable Rewards which the company then matched.  

Dave Kirwan, Managing Director of Bord Gáis Energy said “This is my eighth year participating in the sleepout. The reason I’m here is there are 4,000 children tonight without a home in Ireland and it’s simply not good enough. We’re here tonight to raise awareness and funds to fight and combat homeless across our country.” 

Miriam Barror, Brand Programme Manager at Bord Gáis Energy said “I slept out for Shine A Light with my Bord Gáis Energy colleagues last October, in close to freezing temperatures! Very little sleep was had but the impact on me was huge. We take for granted so much of what we have - to have this opportunity to stand in solidarity with those not so fortunate and help raise funds for Focus Ireland is a privilege. I'll be doing it again next year!”

The money donated has the power to make a world of difference to those facing homelessness. With the amount raised by Shine A Light for example, it could fund approximately 25,400 hours of one-on-one support for the 4,560 children experiencing homelessness or provide 39,000 hours of education and training to empower individuals to regain their independence, secure stable employment and rebuild their lives.