AOL Broadband launches 2010 Charity of the Year Programme Back to Media Releases

September 6th 2009: Miss Ireland 2008 Sinead Noonan was on hand today as AOL Broadband launched its Charity of the Year Programme at an awards ceremony where they presented last year’s triumphant winning charity, the South East Simon Community, with their cheque for €10,000.

AOL Broadband encourages their employees to fundraise for a different local charity every year through the Charity of the Year Programme. It was organised to recognise the dedication and generosity of voluntary groups and charitable organisations that make a huge impact on the community.      

Over the past few months, employees have raised €5,000 through a number of fundraising initiatives which was matched by AOL Broadband. Due to the success of this programme, which has been helping South East charities since 2005, people can now nominate a deserving Waterford charity to be considered for the 2009/2010 programme.   For more details go to www.aolbroadbandwaterford.com\Charity

Speaking at the launch of this year’s Charity of the Year Programme, Elaine Connolly, Senior Communications Manager for AOL Broadband said, “The Charity of the Year programme is part of AOL Broadband’s ongoing commitment to the local community in the South East.  Since we began this programme we have helped many organisations in the South East. AOL Broadband has always been committed to continuing our corporate responsibility programmes to the same scale as previous years. Giving back to the community in which we work is our priority.”

Last year’s winners, the South East Simon Community, will use the donation towards play therapy for children affected by homelessness and to research the effects of homelessness on them. This will be jointly conducted by the South East Simon Community and the Waterford Institute of Technology.

Chris Anderson, Regional Development Officer, South East Simon Community said, “Little research has been done into the impact of homelessness on children’s welfare. When it comes to supporting homeless children we have so few resources that we want to make sure our interventions are targeted specifically to meet identified needs. This generous donation from AOL Broadband and its employees is a welcome addition as it will contribute to pointing us in the right direction on how to support children adversely affected by homelessness. We are very grateful to everyone who gave up the time to fundraise and to those who donated money.”  

For the chance to be included in this year’s programme, simply log onto www.aolbroadbandwaterford.com\Charity and fill out the registration form. The closing date for applications is 4th September and the winning charity for the 2009/2010 programme will be chosen by AOL Broadband employees by the end of September.

Media Contact Information

Media Contact at TalkTalk

Elaine Connolly
Senior Communications Manager, TalkTalk Residential Customer Service.
T: 051 333 298 E: Elaine.Connolly@aolbb.co.uk

About TalkTalk

TalkTalk, launched in February 2003, is the home phone and broadband company from The Carphone Warehouse. It now has over 4 million customers and is the largest supplier of Broadband to residential homes in the UK.  AOL Broadband was acquired by Carphone Warehouse in October 2006.

TalkTalk Waterford manages the customer support function for TalkTalk & AOL UK customers. Established in 1998, TalkTalk Waterford employs in excess of 700 employees.Follow TalkTalk on Twitter and on our blog: http://www.twitter.com/talktalktips and http://www.talktalkblog