Celebrating a decade of helping young people achieve life goals
Dr. Josephine Bleach, Director of the Early Learning Initiative, receives the inaugural Paul McNaughton Award for her contribution to young people experiencing disadvantage. Picture credit: Damien Eagers
The basis.point Annual Spring Lunch is a wonderful celebration of industry collaboration.
The Round Room creates a uniquely special atmosphere, and this year, a dull day in May was significantly brightened by the gathering of almost 500 friends and colleagues from the Irish funds industry, celebrating 10 years of collaborative giving.
The charity has now pledged over €6.1 million to education and Edel O’Malley, CEO thanked everyone in the room for having the belief to commit, stressing that the work achieved was testament to the idea that small keys open big doors.
Edel O’Malley, CEO basis.point, flanked by her two Chairs, Eoin Fitzgerald and Clive Bellows.
Clive Bellows, basis.point Chairperson, spoke of the need for further support, introducing a video that encouraged the industry to deepen their involvement.
And whilst it was an afternoon for celebration, recognising the importance of introducing new energy, it was also a time to announce change. Clive Bellows warmly welcomed Eoin Fitzgerald as the incoming Chair.
Eoin acknowledged the impact that Clive’s leadership had, not only on the growth of basis.point but also the culture of collaboration and comradery. Looking forward to building on this legacy and exploring new opportunities for growth with the basis.point Board, he also welcomed incoming Board Directors Laura Trimble of HSBC and Paul Kilcullen of BNY Mellon.
Conor McNaughton with Josephine Bleach, the Paul McNaughton Award Recipient and Clive Bellows
The focus this year was on the importance of early intervention and giving young people the best start in Life. We were privileged to hear from Linda McGrath about her personal journey, the importance of the ParentChild+ programme in the community and the far reaching impact of Josephine Bleach.
A special moment of reflection afforded Clive the opportunity to welcome Conor McNaughton to the stage to present the inaugural Paul McNaughton award, which fittingly went to Josephine Bleach for her exceptional services to young people and families experiencing disadvantage.
The Early Learning Initiative were one of the first beneficiaries of basis.point funding and during this time has grown crucial early intervention home visiting programmes from 15 families in the Docklands in 2008, to 565 families in 11 communities across the country.
Volunteers from KPMG, PwC and Maples
Sincere thanks to our lead event sponsors, BNY Mellon, Confluence and The Panel Search and Selection, whose generosity made for a wonderful day. Thanks also to all those who supported the event, to those who donated experiences and unique items for auction, to Sean Buckley who encouraged an extraordinary level of generosity and especially the volunteers from PwC, Maples and KPMG, who worked tirelessly to make the Spring Lunch such a great success.
Our work is about investing in belief, giving young people a sense of agency, and doing our best to ensure that no single child is left behind.
basis.point is on the cusp of a new threshold. Our hope is that the next decade will bring renewed commitment, even wider industry buy in, and open the doors to new opportunities that further help young people to reach their potential. Creating brighter futures for young people experiencing disadvantage is a privilege that we can all embrace.
If you would like to deepen your engagement please consider becoming an individual Patron or Supporter. You can also join us later this month at our Regional Dinner in Fota Island Resort Hotel in Cork.
Full picture gallery below, photo credits to Damien Eagers and Sara Hanley.
