ESB ElectricAID Ireland helps Ferns Youth Service Counselling

Electricaid ireland, the ESB social fund provided a support grant to Ferns Youth Services to assist the service in providing counselling for young people in the Wexford area. The grant was presented to Sheila Dempsey, Acting CEO, on Friday 2nd February by Richard King, ESB Networks', Area Supervisor for Wexford.

The €10,000 grant will be used by the Ferns group to provide free counselling for young people in the area. ESB ElectricAID Ireland was set up in 2005 to provide financial support for charities in Ireland working in the areas of homelessness and suicide prevention. These two areas were chosen by ESB staff following a company wide ballot.

Since its foundation ESB ElectricAID Ireland has dispersed in excess of €1.2million in funding to ESB ElectricAID Ireland helps Ferns Youth Service Counselling projects across the country. The initiative plays a key role in ESB fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities.

Presenting the cheque to the FDYS, Richard King praised the ongoing work of the project in trying to counter suicide in the region. "We in ESB are delighted to be able to support community based projects like the Ferns Youth Service. Suicide is one of the greatest social problems facing Ireland and the work being carried out by the service, and other similar initiatives, is an important measure in trying to address this problem".

The Ferns Youth Service is the fourth initiative to receive funding from ElectricAID Ireland. The fund is seeking similar applications from groups in the South East working in the areas of Homelessness and Suicide prevention.