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Millions raised by Late Late Toy Show Appeal to fund 55 children's charity projects

Millions raised by Late Late Toy Show Appeal to fund 55 children's charity projects

Over €3 million raised by the Late Late Toy Show Appeal will be shared among 55 projects across the island of Ireland.

Of the €6.6 million raised, half was divided between the show's three key charities; Barnardos Ireland, Children's Health Foundation Ireland, and Children's Books Ireland.

An open call was then made for children's charities to apply for a grant from the remaining funds, the distribution of which was managed by The Community Foundation for Ireland and Community Foundation Northern Ireland.

It is estimated the proceeds from the overall funding appeal will benefit approximately 675,000 children and their families "directly and immediately", while "thousands more [are] set to benefit through the investment in essential resources, both medical and otherwise, for years to come".

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Among the projects to receive funding is COPE Galway's Helping Kids First programme, which offers support services for homeless children in the county, and Music Generation Cork, encouraging young people to get into music.

The grants were distributed to charities based on three themes: ensuring basic needs, improving wellbeing, and reducing inequality through creativity.

Approximately €2.64 million went to projects in the Republic, while £537,000 (€625,900) was shared between 14 projects in the North.

In a statement from RTÉ, Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy thanked viewers for their "overwhelming generosity", adding the money is "going directly to children all over the island of Ireland who are going to have better, happier, safer and more creative, enriched and nourished lives because of these donations".

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