Bord Gáis Energy and Focus Ireland
10 years of supporting a mission to end family homelessness
Ireland is experiencing record homelessness with over 15,000 people homeless, and even more at risk. The number of families in emergency accommodation has doubled in the last two years alone. Sadly, over 4,600 children are among them.
At Bord Gáis Energy, our purpose is to energise a greener, fairer future for all. A fairer future means no one is left behind. That’s why we have been partnering with Focus Ireland for the last 10 years. Since 2015, our partnership has supported 8,500 families and provided over €7.5 million in funding to help tackle homelessness.
In addition to company donations and colleague fundraising, we’ve supported Focus Ireland through advertising campaigns, participation in the Shine A Light sleepout, improving energy efficiency in housing projects, supporting helplines, and much more.
Our staff are also hugely committed to the partnership and have given more than 8,000 volunteer hours to support events and initiatives. Last year alone, more than a third of our people volunteered.
Donate to Focus Ireland 10-year anniversary report
10 years of support in numbers
€7.5 million
Total funding through the partnership with 8,500 families supported through our initiatives.
Over €2.5 million
in funding for Focus Ireland’s Advice and Information Helpline.
8,379 hours volunteered
1 in 3 colleagues volunteered in 2024 alone. More than €400,000 in additional fundraising and company matching by colleagues.
€482,329 Empowerment Fund
9,082 parents and children supported through the Empowerment in areas like basic necessities, children’s activities and therapeutic supports.
The Focus Ireland Advice and Information Helpline
This helpline provides support on all aspects of housing and homelessness with an emphasis on prevention. These supports include sourcing legal advice, arranging mediation with landlords and engaging with local authorities.
Very often, people don’t realise they’re at risk of homelessness until it’s too late. Since 2024 Bord Gáis Energy has funded regional campaigns in the south east and west of the country, helping families and individuals in private rented accommodation to recognise early warning signs of tenancy vulnerability. We encourage them to contact the helpline before a rental issue becomes a homelessness crisis. We’ve seen up to a 300% increase in calls to the helpline as a result of these campaigns which shows that Focus Ireland’s continuing work to prevent homelessness is needed more than ever before. Thanks to early intervention, Focus Ireland was able to help the majority of callers remain in their homes.
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The Bord Gáis Energy Empowerment Fund
Homelessness robs families and especially children of more than shelter. Children miss out on the simple joys of childhood, like Christmas celebrations and family outings. Even simple things like going to school in the morning can present challenges. The average length of time children spend in emergency accommodation has sadly increased from six months to two years.
The Bord Gáis Energy Empowerment Fund helps bring those moments back into children’s lives. Over the last 10 years more than €480,000 has been committed to the Fund, benefiting more than 9,000 parents and children. This has helped provide:
- Basic necessities covering expenses such as travel, clothing and school uniforms, household bills and maintenance
- Access to timely therapeutic support previously out of reach has helped many Focus Ireland families receive accurate diagnoses which in turn have positively changed the course of the lives of many Focus Ireland customers.
Providing more energy-efficient and comfortable homes
The Focus Ireland Aylward Green facility provides crucial accommodation for families affected by homelessness. The primary goal is to offer temporary accommodation while helping families develop the skills needed for independent living. However, old heating systems were driving up energy costs.
Teams of Bord Gáis Energy engineers and apprentices volunteered their time to deliver heating upgrades on all 24 homes in the facility. They installed state-of-the-art boilers and smart heating controls, helping to reduce energy bills at the facility by €6,000 a year.
Focus Ireland’s Shine A Light
Shine A Light is now an annual event where business leaders and communities across the country are invited to ‘sleep out against homelessness’ to raise funds and bring the homelessness crisis to the attention of policymakers and the public.
We’ve been a leading sponsor since 2018 and support through direct donation, additional fundraising efforts, advertising support and by leveraging our network of business contacts and customers nationwide to encourage participation.
Over the past seven years Shine A Light has raised over of €9.1 million for Focus Ireland.
Visit focusireland.ie to find out how you can join this October 10th.
#ShineALight
