He likes to think of families in their car, singing along to Christmas FM, enjoying the holiday season. They get listeners from all over the world from Chile to China and he also said there are a lot of Irish people living away that listen in. He believes this is because especially at Christmas people want to feel the Irish connection as Christmas is a family time and if they are listening to an Irish Christmas radio station, it makes them feel more at home.
Charities are always delighted with how much money is raised every Christmas as it is mostly in the region of (€90,000-€110,000) but it is not all about the fundraising and he stressed that they really appreciate the awareness that is raised about the charity which gets more people talking about them.
In the first year they chose the ISPCC as their chosen charity. Christmas is very centered around children so they thought it would be a very suitable one. Every year they give to a great new cause. He outlined however that they need a growing listenership and people to donate every year. They would love to expand nationally some time but it is very hard. More listeners equals more sponsorship which means more money to expand.
Garvan’s highlight for the radio throughout the years they have been live is when he walks into shops and he can hear the station playing, this lets him know that people are actually listening and enjoying what he’s doing. Better than that, another highlight is when they raise the funds for the charity to make a difference to someone that wouldn’t have gotten help without them. They know that they have made a big difference to someone's life.
This radio station is quite remarkable as all the people who work on the station are volunteers and then everything that costs money is covered by sponsorship. They all dedicate their own time in support of the chosen charity. Christmas FM run courses to train volunteers in the use of the radio equipment and also in broadcasting techniques. For any of you budding radio presenters out there maybe think about applying for next year? There is no experience necessary but you must have a love for radio and of course for CHRISTMAS!
Each year Christmas FM choose a charity partner to support by running a ‘Text to Donate’ service for Ireland sponsored by us at LIKECHARITY. Listeners from across the world can also donate on christmasfm.com where any amount of money is appreciated. All proceeds of the donations go to the charity and there is no cost to the charity to be involved. They have raised over €600,000 for charities including ISPCC, Barnardos, Simon, Focus Ireland and Aware. Last year alone they raised over €100,000 for Age Action Ireland.
