Toy Show Appeal awards grants to three Donegal organisations

The Toy Show Appeal has awarded grants for three Donegal-based organisations.

These are Donegal Travellers Project in Letterkenny, Spraoi agus Spórt Family Centre CLG, Carndonagh and Greencastle Community Development Co.

Donegal Travellers Project was awarded €17,600 to deliver actions to address the inequality of outcome and educational disadvantage which Traveller and Roma children and young people experience.

Spraoi agus Spórt was awarded €40,000, with which it will create an accessible, sensory-friendly celebration space in Inishowen, ensuring children with disabilities, sensory sensitivities, and from low-income families can celebrate milestones in a fully inclusive environment.

A total of €12,000 was awarded to Greencastle Community Development Co for Growing Wild, which empowers children to build resilience and connect with nature. This project combines the therapeutic benefits of gardening and ecotherapy with fun outdoor play and practical 'grow your own' skills.

RTÉ and Community Foundation Ireland announced the 169 recipients of the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal grant awards in 2025, with the lives of Irish children right across the country set to be changed for good in a variety of ways. All of this is possible due to the remarkable generosity of RTÉ viewers of last December’s Late Late Toy Show.

The kindhearted response from The Late Late Toy Show viewers to the appeal will help transform the lives of over one million children, young people and their families in Ireland, with every county on the island benefitting from grants totalling €5 million.

To date, the Toy Show Appeal has raised over €26 million since its inception in 2020. It was inspired by the story of Saoirse Ruane from Kiltullagh, Co Galway, who - along with her beloved teddy Slush - captivated viewers with her appearance on The Late Late Toy Show. Saoirse sadly died aged 12 in March 2024.

Announcing the grants, RTÉ Director General, Kevin Bakhurst said: “The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal is one of RTÉ's most important initiatives - we are humbled by and grateful for the generosity of our Late Late Toy Show audience. Your continued support has ensured that the RTÉ Toy Show Appeal will continue to make a positive difference to the lives of thousands of children and their families, across the island, north and south.

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“The memory of Saoirse Ruane lives on with every annual RTÉ Toy Show Appeal, as thousands of young lives are transformed year after year."