Shine a light event in Cork to highlight plight of homeless children

Every day, Focus Ireland teams meet families who are experiencing something no-one should have to endure - homelessness.

Right now, more than 660 people in Cork city and county are registered as homeless, including 221 children across the South West region. Nationally, more than 5,000 children are living without a place to call home.

For me, these numbers are not just statistics. They’re the faces of children trying to do their homework in emergency accommodation, on hotel room floors; parents who don’t know where their family will sleep in the weeks ahead; young people who should be thinking about their futures, but instead are worried about their next move, their lives put on hold, their sense of security taken away.

Homelessness is devastating for anyone, but it is especially cruel to children. It affects their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing and can leave scars that last for years.

That’s why at Focus Ireland we believe, very simply, that no child should be without a home. Everyone has the right to a safe, secure place to live. Yet the crisis is worsening - and it’s clear that the government alone cannot solve it. We all need to play our part as a society to end homelessness.

The good news is that there is a solution. Homelessness is not an inevitability and it’s heartening to know that Cork’s business community already recognises this and has shown that they care.

A recent Focus Ireland survey found that 97% of Irish business leaders see homelessness as a critical or significant problem, and 87% believe they can play a role in ending it. That’s encouraging - but concern alone won’t change the lives of children growing up without a home. We need action.

That’s why, this World Homelessness Day, Friday, October 10, Focus Ireland is inviting Cork business leaders and members of the wider community to take part in our Shine A Light Sleep Out.

This is your chance to step out of your comfort zone for one night, to help families step out of homelessness for good.

Shine A Light is Focus Ireland’s largest annual fundraising initiative. This year, supported once again by Bord Gáis Energy, we’re asking CEOs, managing directors, senior executives and company teams across Cork to join our Business Leader Sleep Out in the iconic Cork City Gaol.

On the same night, our partners and supporters will hold a community sleep out in University College Cork, in conjunction with the UCC Students’ Union.

Thess are just two of many sleep out events happening across Ireland. From Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens to TU Grangegorman and workplaces nationwide, Shine A Light is a truly nationwide effort to raise vital funds and put a spotlight on homelessness.

Each year, funds raised through Shine A Light go directly to where the need is greatest. Your support will directly fund essential services, helping to prevent homelessness and provide support to children and families in need.

Focus Ireland is currently supporting 120 households (with 69 children) across Cork and Kerry. But demand on our services continues to rise with the worsening crisis. That’s why our target this year is to raise €1.2 million nationally - funds we urgently need to keep providing homes and support.

Sleeping out won’t replicate the trauma of homelessness, but it sends a powerful message. It shows your employees, your peers, and your community that business success and social responsibility can go hand in hand. And, crucially, it raises vital funds for Focus Ireland’s work keeping families together, supporting children, and helping people move on from homelessness into a secure home.

I’ve seen first-hand how transformative that support can be. Focus Ireland LEAP Ambassador James Flanagan has spoken publicly about experiencing homelessness at just three years old with his mother. Thanks to support, he broke that cycle. Today he uses his voice to call for change. Stories like James’s remind me every day why we do this work: because when people get a chance, they can rebuild their lives.

Since Shine A Light began in 2012, Cork businesses and business leaders have played a huge role in making it a success. This year, with the highest-ever number of children homeless in Ireland, your leadership is needed more than ever.

So here’s my call to action - sign up to the Shine A Light Business Leader sleep out at Cork City Gaol or Community Sleep Out at UCC on Friday, October 10; invite colleagues and peers to join you and amplify your impact. Or, if you can’t make it on the night, you can still take action on World Homeless Day by hosting your own sleep out wherever you are.

Every euro raised helps us provide housing, support, and hope to people who desperately need it. Raising a €5,000 target can provide wrap-around supports such as advice and information, and allocated case workers with the ultimate goal of helping secure long-term accommodation for up not just one but 19 families. One night of discomfort for us can help make a lifetime of difference for many children without a home.

I think it’s fair to say that Cork has always been a place where people step up when their community needs them. This is one of those moments. Shine A Light offers a chance to stand with families and children at their most vulnerable, and to demonstrate that Corkonians will not stand by while thousands of children grow up without a home.

Please, join me, and together let’s help end child homelessness.

You can register now at shinealight.focusireland.ie.