Check Out Our 2022 Race T-Shirt & Reminder That Registration Will Remain Open Until 31st Aug!

To register, simply complete this online registration form. Registration is open until August 31^st and is €15 per entry, which will be deducted via payroll and donated to ElectricAid’s Ukraine Appeal.

T-shirts (see image above) will be issued to the first 400 people who register. Participation is open to all employees (current and retired) and contractors, as well as family and friends of employees. If registering non-employees (friends, family or contractors without network access), please do so on their behalf by completing the form with their details, with a separate registration for each participant.

Detailed event instructions, rules, terms and conditions are available on the ESB 5K Challenge 2022 event page. If you have any difficulties registering or have any queries about the event, please email athletic.club@esb.ie. 

In January 2021, Sightsavers Ireland received a grant of €14,253 from ElectricAid. This grant supported Sightsavers in their project to integrate eye screenings into schools in Nampula, Northern Mozambique. Nampula is the most populous province in the country and is thought to have the greatest number of people blind from avoidable causes per head of population than any other region in Africa. Blindness and low vision have a profound impact on the lives of individuals, families, especially children and their access to education.  

Over the course of 2021, the main aim of the project was to reach as many children as possible and clear any backlog of children awaiting eye screenings. With the help of the grant provided by ElectricAid, Sightsavers were able to carry out eye screenings on targeted schools, train teachers and support community health. The pandemic provided continuous challenges to the project, to mitigate these challenges Sightsavers worked closely with the government bodies and other key stakeholders. Teacher training and eye health screenings were carried out in a socially distanced manner and face masks were worn to reduce the spread of infection. The pandemic also presented an opportunity to reinforce messaging around sanitation and hygiene for children, parents and communities which goes hand in hand with eye health care. 

Thanks to this project, 5,238 children were screened which was 4.7% over Sightsavers’ target. From this, 126 children identified with refractive error were provided free glasses. Many children and families in rural communities do not have access to health services. Barriers include distance, cost, and lack of transport. Through projects like this, Sightsavers aims to bring services to remote communities, alleviating burdens and costs. The other people who benefitted from this project included 20 teachers who were trained in eye healthcare including refractive error and cataracts. This will have a lasting and generational impact for the communities in Nampula. These teachers will be able to screen new school children every term, and train other teachers, creating a sustainable referral process. 152 Community Health Workers trained on disability and inclusion and COVID-19 safety and finally 3 Ophthalmologists were trained to gain professional qualification. 

“On behalf of the children, adults, and wider communities in Nampula who have benefited from this programme and can now access quality and inclusive eye care, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude. Thank you to all at ElectricAid for the generous grant of €14,253. Truly it has changed so many children’s lives in a sustainable and impactful way, supporting communities for generations to come. We hope you can continue to help us save and restore the sight of many more people in the year ahead. Thank you again for believing in and advocating for a more equal world”  

Following a grant of €9,698 from ElectricAid, GOAL launched a project to strengthen the agricultural sector and increasing household food security through production of diversified nutritious crops in Meta District of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia. GOAL achieved this by improving the nutritional status of children under five and pregnant women, enhancing farming practices at community level and helping to increase household income from the sale of surplus produce. 

This project supported vulnerable women in care groups by improving household nutrition and food security through the provision of nutritious vegetables, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and capacity-building training. This project was based around the provision of seeds for vulnerable farmers to present a sustainable solution enhancing household level food-security while improving health and nutrition of the wider community. Households can now produce vegetables such orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and meet households’ consumption and nutrition needs, while surplus can be sold for profit creating another source of income for the families. Increased income will also lead to better food and nutritional security, as well as improved overall health, as additional income can be used to purchase other household food items, as well as school provisions for their children. The GOAL health team also provided education to targeted households on the importance of diet diversity, and best infant and young child feeding practices. 

Before the project started the target beneficiaries were twelve rural kebeles in Meta District, with a total of around 350 families. This project allowed 40 farmers in the Meta District to be trained which ended up improving the standard of horticulture and farming methods, in turn this enabled farmers to train their neighbours, dramatically increasing farmer activity by reskilling more farmers to use various technologies that boost yield and enhancing their traditional methods of farming. 107 kgs of four different varieties of seeds were procured and distributed to 630 households in two rounds. 330 families have received orange fleshed sweet potato cuttings which have allowed households to grow sweet potatoes. All 330 households are producing excess orange fleshed sweet potato and are using them for both daily household consumption and to sell in markets for further income. 

With the help of our generous doners we were able to support GOAL to deliver this project. We were also able to achieve several sustainable development goals set out by the United Nations including, GOAL 2 – Zero Hunger, GOAL 3 – Good Health & Wellbeing, GOAL 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth, GOAL 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities and finally GOAL 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production 

Self Help Africa received a grant of €11,940 from ElectricAid to increase the productivity of cashew orchards in the communities of Soubakaniédougou and Banfora in the southwest of Burkina Faso while also improving women’s access to the commercial assets needed for cashew farming.  

2,790 women were targeted for this project all of whom benefitted from the initiative. Both in terms of diversification and how the money was spent, the grant was used to provide kit including five beehives, a protective suit, a pair of gloves, a pair of boots, a smoker, a frame lifter, a bee brush, a harvest bucket, and ordinary embossed wax for the preparation of beehives to 60 women, including 15 children, from 20 different farms across the Soubakaniédougou and Banfora regions. 

The project also included two, three-day training sessions on bee keeping, honey production and diversification. This training educated participants on the role of bees in cashew production, biodiversity conservation and other associated benefits, it also showed the farmers the best practices for producing honey and other complementary bee products and finally it showed participants the best practices for processing, preserving and marketing honey. This training helped Self Help Africa meet two of their aims which were to improve cashew nut production quantitatively and qualitatively and to create another source of income for women.  

The project already has improved the living conditions of women and their families in the cashew production areas, by strengthening their personal economic conditions. The groups have already applied their knowledge and training to achieve their first year of honey production. The field officers will continue to identify the quantities of honey collected and support the packaging for commercialization. 

ElectricAid and Self Help Africa would like to thank our generous doners, with your help we were able to achieve our goals and help promote women economic empowerment in Burkina Faso. These project aims were also aligned with eight of the UNs sustainable development goals including 1 No Poverty, 2 Zero hunger, 5 Gender Equality, 8 Decent Work & Economic Growth, 10 Reduced Inequalities, 11 Sustainable Cities & Communities, 13 Climate Action and 15 Life on Land.  

Image: From Concern: Location: Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi oblasts

Update from Concern:

Since February 24th, around 12.8 million people have been forcibly displaced , (more than twice the population of Ireland) , roughly a quarter of the Ukrainian population, with the number of people moving across international borders surpassing 5.1 million. Internally, an estimated 7.1 million people are displaced across Ukraine. According to IOM, more than 30% of displaced households include at least one person suffering from a chronic illness, while nearly 20% include someone living with some form of disability. Overall needs for the population include safe shelter, food, water, access to information, psychosocial support, and medicine.

The latest figure for Ukraine is €105,698 from 878 donors  of this amount Transferred = €100,000 to Goal, Concern UNICEF, Trocraire, Irish red Cross

Additional €90,000 approved and due to transfer in coming weeks to Goal, Concern UNICEF, Trocraire, Irish Red Cross and MSF to bring total to €190,00

Word of Thanks:

UNICEF: We greatly appreciate the support from ElectricAid in this work for the children and families.  Your support is our strength .  UNICEF is working to scale up programmes for children. This includes trucking safe water to conflict-affected areas; prepositioning health, hygiene, and emergency education supplies as close as possible to communities near the line of contact; and working with municipalities to ensure there is immediate help for children and families in need. UNICEF-supported mobile teams are also providing psychological care to traumatised children.  UNICEF intend to steer resources to the most critical parts inside Ukraine and the refugee response in surrounding countries

Irish Red Cross: Many thanks for this fantastic support of the Ukraine Crisis Appeal –This support will be used specifically in support of the Irish Red Cross Ukraine Crisis appeal and can be earmarked specifically to Red Cross activities in Ukraine as well as the neighbouring countries that have received over 3,000,000 refugees since the end of February.  This donation will also be dedicated to emergency assistance such as the provision of water, food, medicine and shelter. IRC support is dedicated to the ongoing assistance of millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing into border countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania. The nature of this support includes the provision of the core necessities described above as well as psychological first aid, migration support and other services.

GOAL: We like to pass on our sincere thanks to ElectricAid and all its member for their generosity at such a tragic time. We are on the ground responding to the great need as it develops. GOAL is procuring large volumes of food and non-food items and distributing this inside Ukraine to those in need. In particular, focusing on vulnerable people – older people, children, those with illnesses and disabilities. ‘Non-food items’ such as blankets, first aid kits, cooking equipment, torches, clothing and other needed items. As the first phase of initial refugee flows stabilize, the numbers of internally placed people (IDPs) within Ukraine grows.

Concern ; There are an estimated 200 collective centres currently operating in the central and western regions. We support them through, the provision of non-food items (mattresses, blankets, etc.), equipment (washing machines, cooking stoves, etc., utility payments and ongoing maintenance and provision of child friendly space. We focus on procurement and delivery of Non-Food Items (NFIs) in areas directly affected by the conflict; Hygiene and shelter/NFI kits will be given to targeted IDPs regardless of their accommodation status and plan to deliver 8,000 kits – split between a combination of hygiene and shelter kits.

Trocraire. : We partnered with both Caritas Ukraine and Caritas Poland to support the increasing needs of people in Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of people on the move, primarily women and children. We provide practical support in the form of food, shelter together with psychosocial support and transport to those who are making their way to the border

Request from Médecins Sans Frontieres;  MSF  teams have mobilised to provide humanitarian assistance the neighbouring countries of Belarus, Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Slovakia, MSF supply centres have prepared and dispatched medical kits to multiple locations. MSF donated both medicines and medical supplies to a hospital in Mariupol and conducted training in emergency medicine. This first shipment was around 100 tonnes, consisting of surgical and trauma kits, chronic disease medication, and mass casualty supplies. 

On May 13^th, 2021, United purpose received a grant of €13,460 from ElectricAid to fund equipment for women and young farmers to reduce loss of their cassava crop as a result of Covid19 and to establish sustainable businesses, by supplying essential infrastructure to urban women enabling food security and reducing hunger during and beyond the Covid19 crisis and finally by giving young farmers equipment, materials and training to build sustainable livelihoods and remain in their rural communities. 

The project achieved these specific objectives, strengthening the capacity of the participants to survive the pandemic and make for a more resilient and sustainable future. A cassava flour mill was built and equipped for the rural women farmers from the Marinas de Abiaí settlement. This has enabled them to mill all the cassava they grow as well as purchasing from Neighbours, contributing to the community as a whole and reducing loss of the cassava crops grown locally. They are selling everything they produce and receiving orders from local markets, and as a result they have increased their income, benefiting their own families and the whole community. 

An urban garden structure has been built for the women of Campina Grande who are now participating in the Clube das Mães Sagrada Família (Sacred Family Mothers’ Club). They have grown a variety of vegetables which has helped the women feed their families, contributing to a reduction in hunger during some of the worst months of Covid in 2021 and beyond, as hunger has remained a constant in this part of Brazil.  

15 young farmers from 4 different communities within Paraíba were given equipment, including solar panels, tools, organic fertilizer, and pumps for irrigation to enable them to build sustainable livelihoods within their communities. This has allowed the young farmers to produce vegetables for both consumption and sale. Some of the farmers are also now diversifying into breeding chickens for both egg production and for sale within their communities and in local markets.  

Without the help and support of our kind and giving donors ElectricAid would not be able to support Charitys such as United Purpose. Because of the support on this project, we were able to achieve seven out of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including,1 No Poverty, 2 Zero Hunger, 5 Gender Equality, 7 Affordable & Clean Energy, 10 Reduced Inequalities and finally 13 Climate Action. 

“This project has made an enormous difference to the livelihoods of the women, youth and their families that make up the 6 groups supported. On their behalf and on behalf of the local partners, I would like to thank all at ElectricAid and the staff that so generously contributed for the vital support provided” 

On the 17^th of December 2021 Education Plus Nicaragua received a grant of $11,031.20 from ElectricAid to fund various Covid-19 relief projects in their community centre in Casa de los suenos. The projects included getting toldos (tents) to restart their hot meal program, providing hygiene packets for the school children and their families and finally funding the nutrition program to ensure that the kids have enough energy to focus during class.

Because of social distancing rules during the pandemic, extra space was urgently needed in the cafeteria to re-start the hot meal program. This extra space came in the form of 4 toldos (tents) enabling Education Plus to resume the hot meal program. While previously each student received food packets during the pandemic, the food they took home was almost always shared with the rest of their family, which could be between 5 to 12 people. Each month the team in Education Plus noticed the kids losing weight due to the hot meal program being stopped on-site. After buying the 4 tents and seeing the children back at the centre enjoying the hot meals reassured the team the Children were receiving the nutrition they needed. The total amount spent here was $1,402.

The tents also made it possible for Education plus to carry out other activities and gatherings outside of mealtimes that previously were not possible due to the lack of space and extremely hot climate. These extra activities include monthly parent visits led by the home visit team, these tents have allowed us to accommodate more parents and they can now stay longer and focus as they are not distracted by the gruelling heat and sun. Assemblies can now be held which take place every three months. Clubs, workshops, and group exercises have also resumed due to the extra space thanks to the new tents.

For many of us, hygiene is a privilege. Last year, the pandemic affected family’s incomes and when money is tight, and families cannot afford food they do not spend limited earnings hygiene products. With thanks to Electric Aid, Education Plus distributed desperately needed hygiene packets filled with essentials such as soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and toilet paper to 310 of our students. The total spent was $1,805.19.

Here are some quotes from the kids after receiving the hygiene packs:

“I’m beyond happy to have received this packet. Just today we ran out of toilet paper, so this has come like a gift from heaven” – Rebeca,11

“Thank you so much for this, it took me by surprise, I thought that I was only getting my backpack       today, but this has been a wonderful Christmas present” – Oscar,13

“My family can’t afford these kinds of products. Thank you so much, I’m so happy right now”– Nicole, 8

“It’s hard for us  not to have the  necessary supplies to feel good or smell good. When I got my packet, I was happy because I knew I would be able to feel like that without having to ask my parents and actually, [I could] share it with them.” – Sarita, 15

“I like washing my hair with shampoo, it  feels nice because I get to feel clean. Thank you for letting me be clean.” – Kimberling, 9

This project is another great example of ElectricAid working with our long term, trusted partner, Education Plus to deliver life changing projects aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, 2 Zero Hunger and Goal 4, Quality Education. Thank you to all our generous donors – without your support projects like this simply couldn’t happen.