Schools urge students to collect and donate 1c and 2c coins

A schools competition calling on students to collect and donate 1c and 2c coins to charity was launched in Dublin on Tuesday.

Change for Charity is based on the Central Bank’s “rounding initiative” which took place in Wexford in 2013 to reduce the number of 1c and 2c coins in circulation in Ireland. The Central Bank has issued €35.3 million in 1c and 2c coins.

At the launch, Louis Walsh’s new boy band Hometown launched the competition, which is calling on both primary and transition year students across the country to collect as many 1c and 2c coins as possible, and to get “creative and innovative” with the coins.

The charities involved in the campaign are the Irish Heart Foundation, Society of St Vincent de Paul, St Francis and Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services, Gaisce – The President’s Awards, and Irish Autism Action.

A sixth strand of income from the project is to be reserved for smaller charities, community projects, and youth groups who can apply for smaller amounts of funding at the end of the campaign.

Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann will all promote the initiative on their vehicles, and all participating schools will be in with a chance to win a class trip to Carlingford Adventure Centre, Co Louth.

The initiative was developed by Norma Smurfit, founder of the Irish Famine Commemoration Fund.