“Every cent will make a difference”

Virtually every cent donated to Don Bosco Teenage Care goes towards the people that need it most. It's always been important, but recently the idea of value for money is at the forefront of people's minds.

Admittedly, we are a small charity, but our stature is our strength. Our administration costs are practically non-existent, which means that the overwhelming majority of a donation will go to help the children who need it most. We work intensively with children who have endured traumatic upbringings to give them the self-confidence, faith in humanity and the sense that their lives are worth something. We provide the support they've been denied. That support is emotional and protective but also practical and pragmatic as our houses across the city offer them a safe environment whereby they can continue their education and hopefully break the cycle of poverty which blights modern Ireland.

Brand names have made way for substitutes. Holidays need to undergo the Ryanair treatment. Thirty second limo rides are no longer acceptable, if they ever were. The last couple of years have brought sharply into focus the need for making what we have go as far as possible. Whether it's the weekly shop, the annual pilgrimage to the sun or the upper echelons of government, we live in a time when smart choices are the order of the day.

Thrift and frugality aren't the answer either. As a society we need to keep things going as much as possible, but with an eye for value that we haven't employed for much of the last two decades. Call it getting bang for your buck or fiscal prudence, at the end of the day it's all the same. We need to know we are getting all we can with our limited outlay.

Other charities do good work, but how much of your donation gets to the people who need it? For every euro you donate to us, virtually all of it goes towards helping troubled youngsters who desperately want to make something of themselves. We don't do elborate marketing campagins, we don't have an army of staff on the payroll and we don't have elaborate city centre headquarters to pay for.

The children that Don Bosco Teenage Care haven't wasted their first chance and this isn't a second chance, they simply had the misfortune of being born into a situation where their families weren't equipped emotionally or financially to give them the upbringing other people take for granted. Every cent will make a difference, every cent will go towards counseling, development and the well-being of children who haven't been given a chance in life. We haven't given up on them and rather appropriately, we teach them that their lives have value.