CHARITY SUCCESS
Over 1m Irish children to benefit from Toy Show Appeal with €3.6m raised last year as tribute paid to Saoirse Ruane
The Toy Show Appeal has raised over €17.5m in four years
OVER one million children will benefit from the Toy Show Appeal, RTE have revealed.
Yesterday the station unveiled the 122 grants given through the €3.6m raised in last year’s show.
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The Appeal has been running since 2020 and sees millions donated by the Irish public every year.
It was inspired by the story of Saoirse Ruane from Galway, who had her leg amputated after she got cancer.
Saoirse tragically passed away in March this year.
RTE Director General Kevin Bakhurst said: “The RTE Toy Show Appeal is one of the most important things that we do as an organisation.
READ MORE IN TOY SHOW
"We are so grateful for the support of our Late Late Toy Show audience whose generosity has ensured that RTÉ can continue to make a positive difference to the lives of thousands of children, and their families across the island, north and south.
“Children have always been the inspiration behind the Late Late Toy Show and have, in turn, inspired the RTE Toy Show Appeal, not least, Saoirse Ruane who will be remembered as someone who made such a positive and lasting impact on us all.
"Her memory will live on through the RTE Toy Show Appeal and the many young lives that will be transformed.”
The Appeal is run in partnership with the Community Foundation Ireland, and will help children in every county in Ireland.
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Five charities have been given grants of €120,000 each; the Offaly Traveller Movement, Crosscare, Community Law & Mediation, Children at Risk in Ireland and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children.
The rest was split over more than 100 charities.
Campaign launched in bid for former Toy Show star during Taylor Swift’s gigs
These include Barnardos, Jack & Jill, Childhood Cancer Foundation Ireland and Limerick Youth Service.
Recently, a campaign was launched to help make a former Toy Show star's dreams come true as Taylor Swift's Irish gigs approach.
Former RTE Late Late Toy Show star Lucy Hoban is said to have two loves, animals and Taylor Swift.
Many may recall the seven year old's adorable rendition of the star's hit Shake It Off on the show back in 2022 - but now she has bigger plans.
Ahead of the singer's three night's at Dublin's Aviva Stadium next week, a campaign has been launched to get Lucy as close to her idol as possible.
During Taylor's The Eras Tour, an audience member is chosen to be brought to the end of the catwalk during her song 22, where Taylor hands them a signed hat and has a once-in-a-lifetime interaction.
Wildest dreams
While this may only be in some people's wildest dreams, for Lucy, it's something she is reaching for.
Hoping to get Taylor's team to notice her ahead of the show, the Galway native has shared a video on social media asking her fellow Irish Swifties to get the word out.
In the video, a voiceover is heard saying: "As a seven year old Swiftie, there's no better medicine in this world to get you feeling good than a bit of Taylor Swift.
"I'm asking you to consider Lucy, the singing vet - the little girl who knew that Taylor Swift is the medicine that everyone needs."
Lucy won the nation's hearts two years ago on the Toy Show where she showed the audience how to use a toy ice-cream machine.
She then revealed her biggest dream was to become a singing vet when she grows up.
And to prove it, she showed off her teddies before breaking out into her own rendition of Shake It Off.