CluneTech Cares is a fantastic representation of what we are - a team of truly caring individuals giving our best to support and add value, not only to our customers, but also to the communities in which we operate. CluneTech Cares is employee-led and has three key pillars: Wellness, Culture & Community, and Sustainability.
It has been a busy quarter and we're delighted to see some in-person fundraisers taking place again! Check out some of our latest activity below.
This quarter, we were delighted to sponsor the purchase of new equipment for the u10 Kilkenny Ladies Football Team. The request came from an employee who volunteers as a coach for the u10 team in their spare time. Despite often being overshadowed by Hurling in Kilkenny, the sport of Gaelic Football is growing in popularity at an underage level and the club is thriving in numbers. However, they do not have a pitch to call their own and rely on fundraising for pitch rental and the purchase of training equipment. We wanted to help the Kilkenny Ladies Football Team keep the momentum going and to be able to continue to provide this important outlet for young local girls.
We were also delighted to support the Kilkenny International Masters Basketball tournament which took place in March. There were 28 teams from Ireland, UK, and Spain participating in Men's and Women's over 40s and over 50s matches. The tournament was a great success, with the Kilkenny Men's over 50s team winning their section, the Kilkenny Women's over 40s team winning the plate, and the Kilkenny Men's over 40s team placing as the runners up in the competition overall.
In 2021, we were honoured to participate in another fantastic fundraiser for the community of Varna, Bulgaria. CluneTech made a significant donation to support Karin Dom's long-standing dream: the construction of a new Therapeutic Centre for children with special needs. At the start of this year, with construction on the new centre finally coming to an end, CluneTech made another vital donation of €4,000 to support Karin Dom. This donation will be used to install air conditioning in the Ergo Therapy and Physio Therapy rooms of the new centre.
Set in the beautiful city of Varna, Karin Dom's new building which is expected to open in September this year, will give children with special needs from the Northeast of Bulgaria access to vital therapy that will help them to grow in strength and confidence.
At the beginning of this year, an employee brought to our attention the work of an incredible charity called Kilimanjaro Direct. Established in 2005 by Sheila Ryan in response to the stark poverty she witnessed while on a trip to the area, Kilimanjaro Direct provides food and education for over 125 children. Additionally, the charity has helped to build 10 houses and a primary school in the area. CluneTech Cares gladly donated €500 to help the charity to continue their amazing work in Kilimanjaro.
Vinitsa Children's Medical Centre is the largest facility of its kind in the Northeast of Bulgaria, providing medical care and rehabilitation to premature babies and children with neurological and orthopedic problems.
A long-time partner of CluneTech Cares, the medical centre recently embarked on some vital renovations, a project that we were more than happy to support. With this year's donation of €5,000, our partners from Vinitsa bought two air conditioning units, a portable oxygen concentrator, a neonatal pulse oximeter, and a patient monitoring system.
Over the past several years CluneTech has donated close to €12,000 to the Vinitsa Medical Centre. These donations, coupled with contributions from our employees, have helped the centre to purchase important equipment such as hospital beds, therapeutic chairs, baby monitoring devices, and more.
For the third year running, CluneTech Cares are delighted to sponsor a space for one teenager to take part in Thriving Teens by Monere Development. This space was opened up to CluneTech employees who were invited to nominate a teenager to take part.
Thriving Teens by Monere Development is a programme that supports teenagers by giving them the ability to navigate their own path. They believe that every teenager has the potential to achieve their ideal life and have created this programme to focus on life, social, and practical skills that will allow them to be at their best.
This year's programme is taking place from July 12-14th and more information can be found at www.thrivingteens.ie
Daniela Tsoneva and Toni Ivanova from our TransferMate team recently used their employee volunteer day to help the young ladies from the Gavroche Shelter in Varna, Bulgaria, purchase new clothes using money donated by CluneTech earlier this year. Daniela and Toni were on hand to ensure the young ladies got everything they needed and that they also enjoyed a great day out with their new friends from CluneTech.
A group of our employees recently used their CluneTech volunteer days to sort donations at the local Ukrainian Centre in Varna, Bulgaria. They also helped buy and deliver food, water, and hygienic supplies on behalf of the company.
Here's what one of our volunteers, Gocho Gochev, an Operations Manager at TransferMate, had to say;
"I have used my volunteer day to help buy provisions (food, hygienic supplies, etc.) for the refugees in Varna, Bulgaria. It was very useful to be able to avail of the volunteer day as it allowed us to fully focus on doing what needs to be done in order to help.
Almost all of the refugees who are escaping the war in Ukraine are mothers with children that need help and support in these tough moments. This is the least that we can do for them. I would help again if needed."
Many more of our people around the world are contributing at a local level too. As the situation in Ukraine continues to worsen following the invasion by Russia, we as a company continue to look for ways to help those affected by the conflict.
CluneTech Cares closed out a busy Q1 by coming together to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society on Daffodil Day. Employees were asked to either take part in a 5K challenge or to host a coffee morning with their team. For each employee that took part in either of these activities, CluneTech donated €5 to the Irish Cancer Society. It was incredible to see so many people take time out of their busy schedules to take part, and to help us raise money and awareness for such a meaningful cause. Together, we raised €300 for the Irish Cancer Society!
We have another busy quarter ahead for our CSR programme. Follow us on social media and never miss a CluneTech Cares Update!
