As I’m sure many of you already know (because it’s hard to avoid), the General Election is well underway. Posters are up, ballots are printed and it’s all they talk about on the telly. After February 8th we will know which 5 candidates will become our elected representatives in Dáil Éireann.
I’m also sure that many of you know that Citywise doesn’t receive any consistent government funding. We rely on donations from corporates, individuals and of course the Really Great Citywise Draw. We think that this shouldn’t be the case. Citywise provides a vital service to our community. As one of the largest stand-alone youth centres in the country, we offer everything from guitar lessons to computer coding to French classes.
Many of you reading this already know what we do and why we do it. You probably came when you were (slightly) younger, or your brothers, sisters, sons and daughters come now. Citywise changed my life and gave me amazing opportunities and every day I see it doing the same for others in our community. State funding would give us the security to better plan for the future, increase the numbers we have on our programmes and allow us to redirect our time towards developing better programmes.
In the last week of the campaign, you might have a lot of knocks on your door. They won’t all be the Citywise draw! When politicians come by, ask them why our volunteers have to knock, not just once every election, but every week, on over 1000 doors to fundraise? We need your help, this election, we need you to be our voice.
Ask Candidates;
· Do you support the work of Citywise?
· Will you commit to coming to Citywise after the election?
· Will you fight our case for government funding?
- Daire