Flutter hosted its first charity ball in Dublin last week and hit its target, raising over €270.000 for BUMBLEance, Ireland's children's ambulance service, equivalent to the cost of two ambulances for the charity. The funds raised will support the charity's growth strategy and, as announced by Ian Brown, CEO of Flutter UKI, included a donation of €125.000 from Flutter.
BUMBLEance, a first-of-its-kind service, is a not-for-profit organization providing safe and comfortable medical transport for Ireland's youngest patients between home and hospital. The ambulances are designed to reduce financial hardship for families and are equipped with TVs, PlayStations, iPad Airs, music, DVDs and books to reduce children's stress during difficult journeys.
Guests at the event, held in the Round Room of Dublin's Mansion House, heard stories from parents about the difference the charity has made, as well as details of how BUMBLEance would like to make more of the current 2.000 trips a year from current fleet of 14 ambulances.
Hosted by Irish stand-up comedian Deidre O'Kane and Paddy Power himself, with over 400 attendees, the event was a great success, including fundraising via a raffle and auction, magicians and The Dodder Dash race between nine mascots . Attendees also heard talks from the BUMBLEance team, Ian Brown and Flutter CLO and the group's commercial director, Pádraig Ó Ríordáin.
Prizes up for grabs included Rugby World Cup tickets for Ireland-Scotland in France, a shirt signed by Max Verstappen, shirts signed by Ronaldo and Rivaldo and football boots signed by Neymar Jr.
The charity ball is part of Flutter's broader global commitment to its communities as part of its global sustainability strategy. The goal is to improve the lives of 10 million people by 2030, a goal made possible by Flutter's scale and the collective passion of its colleagues. Flutter's next charity ball will be held in Leeds on November 22nd.
Anna Earley, Corporate Partnership Manager at BUMBLEance, said: “The Flutter Charity Ball was a truly unique event for us at BUMBLEance and we received our largest donation in one day from Flutter Entertainment. The whole team was impressed by the success of the event – we can now focus on our progressive and transformative plans to reach even more children across Ireland.
“In line with our current strategy, this donation can support awareness of BUMBLEance, which will benefit our next moves to create regional services across Ireland, expanding into Northern Ireland where one in four children live in poverty and struggle to get to their appointments, and review our fleet of ambulances. This event accelerated our efforts to grow and ensure that every child has access to their healthcare. What an amazing gift from the Flutter team.”
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin, CLO and Chief Commercial Officer of Flutter Group, said: “Last week's charity ball held in Dublin in aid of BUMBLEance was a fantastic success. It was a pleasure to take part in fundraising for this wonderful charity which provides an essential service to young hospital patients in Ireland.
“We are grateful for the generosity of participants and donors who collectively helped us more than double our original fundraising goal. The success of this event is testament to the positive impact Flutter can have on its communities and I look forward to seeing more of these events take place under our Positive Impact Plan.”
