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O2 and the IAA

O2 Ireland identified Irish Autism Action (IAA) as its charity of choice in 2005, following a programme of employee consultation. Irish Autism Action’s aim is to raise the quality of life of individuals and their families affected by autism through ensuring the provision of the highest standards in assessment, education, care, support, employment and equality of living opportunities in partnership with families.

The over-riding objective of the partnership between IAA and O2 Ireland is to create an opportunity for O2 to make a tangible and positive difference to the lives of individuals with autism, and their families, through fundraising, our people and our technology.

O2 are delighted to announce the launch of the IAA Affinity, which hopes to make a difference to autism communities all over Ireland.

 

IAA Affinity

IAA Affinity

October sees the launch of a new initiative by O2, in partnership with Irish Autism Action. It is called the Irish Autism Action Affinity. This offer is open to both prepay and post-pay O2 customers and the message is simple - Text the key word 'AUTISM' to 50308 and 5% of your O2 monthly spend* will go towards autism services in your community.

Irish Autism Action and O2 hope that this IAA Affinity plan will make a real difference to the lives of children and families affected by autism in Ireland. The money raised in each county, will be returned to the county of the bill payer's address and divided equally between all autism groups in that county.

Irish Autism Action and O2 have also been involved in many other activities over the course of their partnership.

*Terms and conditions apply (see www.o2.ie/legal)

If you have any questions on the IAA Affinity, contact Lisa on affinity@autismireland.ie

 

In order to achieve their mutual goal of making a tangible and positive difference to the lives of individuals with autism, they identified four key areas of activity.

In addition, O2 pledged its support for the establishment of a national autism diagnostic centre – the SOLAS centre. The first of its kind in Ireland, the centre aims to provide diagnostic evaluations and multidisciplinary intervention services for children with autism spectrum disorders from infancy through to adolescence. The SOLAS centre was officially opened in April 2007 by Keith Duffy, patron of Irish Autism Action and Danuta Gray, CEO, O2 Ireland. The opening of the Solas Centre in Clontarf will reduce waiting time for diagnosis from 12 months to three months and will ultimately remove the wait for diagnosis altogether. Prior to the opening of the centre almost 2,000 children and their families were waiting for a consultation. Since Solas commenced informally in early Feb 2007 and formally since April 2007, over 100 children have been assessed.

Since 2005, over €300,000 has been donated to Irish Autism Action by O2, through corporate and employee fundraising. The support from O2 has increased the fundraising potential of Irish Autism Action and has also supported a number of initiatives, including the following:

Website

O2 staff assisted Irish Autism Action last year in redesigning their website to include a discussion forum and an option to donate online. The new look website was launched during Autism Awareness Month in April 2008 and aims to be the number 1 information portal for families affected by autism.

National Helpline

Irish Autism Action and O2 launched the first national helpline for parents and families of children with autism on the inaugural World Autism Awareness Day on 2nd of April this year. The helpline number is 1890 818 518 and the establishment of it is a direct response to calls from parents for a support service that would put them in touché with other families affected by the condition with a view to sharing experiences and advice.

For more information on autism, log on to www.autismireland.ie.