With a little over a week to go until Christmas, singer songwriter Tommy Keyes has ramped up his support for Focus Ireland as he aims for a number one.
Christmas Eve in Dublin climbed to No 1 in the Irish iTunes singer-songwriter chart last month, and with all proceeds destined for Focus Ireland, Tommy is urging the public to buy it from iTunes and the other download sites for just 99c.
Tommy Keyes took time out of his busy schedule to entertain commuters at Dublin’s bustling Pearse Station, with the backing of Irish Rail, to help raise vital funds for Focus Ireland in the countdown to Christmas.
“We all want to do our bit for people experiencing homelessness, so I’ve written and recorded a Christmas single”, explained Tommy, who was originally the keyboard player for Sidewinder, a mainstay of the Dublin rock scene in the late 1970s.
Tommy took to the piano at the peak of rush hour as part of a series of Irish Rail backed events in the run up to Christmas which is seeing choirs, musicians and volunteers take to train stations in support of Focus Ireland.
The aim is to raise funds and awareness and we are asking if commuters have any spare change while passing through that they donate.
Focus Ireland Communications & Advocacy Manager, Roughan MacNamara, said: “Throughout December the support of commuters in Irish Rail stations nationwide has been phenomenal, and we are hoping that people can continue to support Focus Ireland as they travel home for Christmas.
“All of us can sometimes take our own home for granted. Not everyone has this security. Almost 40% of the overall homeless, or a shocking total of 3,194 are children. Behind these heart-breaking statistics are real people with very real experiences.”
Iarnród Éireann’s Corporate Communications Manager – Barry Kenny said: “We were delighted that Terry was at Pearse Street Station as part of Irish Rail’s campaign to support Focus Ireland.”
“Iarnród Éireann is proud to be supporting Focus Ireland’s work and we hope this campaign will help the charity’s work to support more families to make the journey home.”
Focus Ireland supports over 13,500 people each year that are homeless or at risk of losing their home. The charity also provides over 820 homes nationwide.
Focus Ireland has managed to support over 700 families to secure a home so they will now be #Home4Christmas.
