The Echo to support Cork Penny Dinners this Christmas

The Echo is to support the vital work of Cork Penny Dinners this Christmas season.

“We are delighted to provide assistance to Cork Penny Dinners, on behalf of our readers, at what is a very busy time for the organisation,” Gráinne McGuinness, editor of The Echo and Echolive.ie, said.

“We regularly report on the tremendous work done by the whole team there throughout the year, and so often when we are covering issues like homelessness and the cost-of-living crisis, Caitriona Twomey provides a voice for the voiceless, highlighting the terrible difficulties faced by far too many people in our city.

“We know Caitriona and Cork Penny Dinners have a special place in the hearts of our readers and it is an honour to support them,” Ms McGuinness said.

The Echo is supporting the work of the centre by pledging 100 Christmas dinners to their annual appeal, at a cost of €2,000, on behalf of its print and online readers.

Ms Twomey said The Echo has long been part of the Penny Dinners family, and has helped to publicise the work the charity does.

“The coverage that The Echo has given to us helps to let the people of Cork know about the work that we do on their behalf, the work that we couldn’t do without the support of the people of Cork,” she said.

“A friend of ours, Finbarr, comes to our door every morning and he brings us The Echo, and it’s always part of our day. If we’re not in the paper, Finbarr will say ‘Ye’re not in it at all today’, and if we are in the paper, he’ll say ‘Ye’re in it, ye’re in it!’

“We love The Echo, and we see it as part of our Christmas. We joke that we’re like another Holly Bough!” Ms Twomey said.

“This Christmas Day alone we will feed about 1,500 people, and the contribution that The Echo has made will help a lot of people, and we just couldn’t be more grateful.”

• See tomorrow’s print edition for a four-page special on the work of Cork Penny Dinners.