85% of workers more likely to consider a role with a company that supports charitable causes

Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy call on businesses across Ireland to sleep out in this year’s Shine A Light event on Oct 13

Key findings:

• Homelessness is considered the most pressing social issue among the Irish workforce
• 64% say that taking part in CSR or charitable initiatives positively impacts job satisfaction
• 85% of employees participate in social and environmental initiatives at work
• Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy launch the Shine A Light campaign, and appeal to Irish businesses to take part in the nationwide sleep out event on Friday, 13 October
• Register for the sleep out at shinealight.focusireland.ie and nominate a business leader or colleague to join you.

A new study of 1,000 Irish workers reveals that 85% say they are more likely to consider a role in an organisation that supports a cause or charity and 81% feel is important that businesses encourage employees to engage in charitable activities.

The research was released today by Focus Ireland to launch the annual Shine A Light campaign. The annual sleep out takes place on October 13, and is proudly supported by Bord Gáis Energy. The campaign is calling on business leaders, companies, employees, and individuals to come together to kick start real change, by sleeping out against homelessness to help raise funds for Focus Ireland’s vital homeless services. According to the latest government figures, 1,804 families are in emergency accommodation as of June 2023. With the number of families becoming homeless increasing by 30% in the last year, there has never been a more important time to show your support.

The research also finds:

• Workers believe that homelessness is the most pressing social issue at present.
• 64% say taking part in charitable activities at work, positively impacts job satisfaction. 
• 1 in 5 feel their employer does not prioritise charitable activities.

Bord Gáis Energy has supported Focus Ireland since 2015 and 2023 marks the fifth year of its sponsorship of Shine A Light. To date the partnership between Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy has supported over 7,000 families experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing their home. In 2022, Bord Gáis Energy extended their partnership with Focus Ireland until 2025.

Business leaders are invited to lead by example and join a sleep out event at one of the following locations: Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork, Croke Park, Dublin and King John’s Castle, Limerick. Their businesses can get involved in Shine A Light by signing up through the Focus Ireland website shinealight.focusireland.ie and organising a sleep out at their workplace.

Focus Ireland and Bord Gáis Energy want to make this the biggest sleep out yet and are encouraging business leaders across Ireland to take it a step further by challenging their peers, colleagues, or friends to sleep out as part of Shine A Light. To nominate, share a post on LinkedIn tagging the people you want to nominate and encourage them to accept the challenge to sleep out. Use the hashtag #ShineALight and tag @FocusIreland and @BordGáisEnergy to spread the word and inspire others to get involved.

This year, Bord Gáis Energy would like to begin the challenge by calling on their fellow industry leaders to sleep out against homelessness and take part in Shine A Light 2023. To register to take part in the sleepout or find more information, please visit shinealight.focusireland.ie.

Amy Carr, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at Focus Ireland: “With homelessness figures continuing to rise, Shine A Light continues to be our most important fundraising events of the year. The business community in Ireland has always shown strong support for our fundraising events and this year we want to show the impact that taking part in Shine A Light can have on your business. The research has shown that employees across the country are eager to get involved in charitable activities in the workplace and Shine A Light not only provides an opportunity to raise funds for Focus Ireland, but it can also raise company morale and provide a great team bonding experience for all involved”.

Susan Whyte, Director of Customer Operations at Bord Gáis Energy added: “We are proud to continue our support of Focus Ireland and this year’s Shine A Light fundraising campaign. The research carried out to launch this year’s campaign clearly shows the importance of businesses getting behind charitable initiatives and our own team will be hosting a sleepout in our offices this year to support the campaign. To date, a third of Bord Gáis Energy’s workforce has taken part in Shine A Light and we would urge other business leaders and companies to join us in this initiative. By coming together, we can help raise vital funds to help family homelessness in Ireland.”

About Focus Ireland

There are currently 12,600 people experiencing homelessness in Ireland, with 3,765 of them being children. The demand for Focus Ireland’s services is at an all-time high, and help is needed from the corporate community in order to continue to do their good work.

Due to support from the community last year, Shine A Light raised over €1.2 million in support of Focus Ireland’s vital services. None of this would have been possible without the support of business leaders and companies who took part and raised vital funds.