Irish students to take part in 24 hour live TV broadcast for charity this weekend

DCU students will be lending their support to a mental health charity during their annual 24 hour live broadcast this weekend.

This year, DCUtv will be broadcasting 24 hours of live content in a bid to raise over €5000 for Jigsaw, a mental health charity set up specifically to support youths.

The charity was chosen on the suggestion of second year Communications student Sarah McLaughlin, who holds Jigsaw very close to her heart. Sarah is an active member of MPS and she says she is delighted the charity was chosen by DCUtv to receive a donation.

“It was a great support for me when I needed it and I wanted to give back to the charity while raising awareness for my peers at the same time," she says.

“Jigsaw is such an amazing facility to have for young people suffering from mental illnesses around the country and it’s amazing to be raising so much awareness for them.

“There’s such a stigma surrounding mental illness in Ireland and I finally think it’s time we did something to make a difference!”

Last Christmas, the broadcast raised €5000 for charity, through donations received throughout the 24 hours. This year the group hope to smash last year’s efforts and raise even more, with all funds going to Jigsaw.

The broadcast is based around a variety of shows put together by students which range from popular television remakes such as ‘The Late Late Toy Show’ and ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ to eclectic original shows proposed by students from all years.

The broadcast, which is being run for the sixth consecutive year this Christmas, also features two flagship programmes, including ‘The Apprentice’, which involves students going up against each other to win.

Jigsaw is run as part of the organisation Headstrong which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting communities and statutory services in providing appropriate mental health support for young people, and to changing how Ireland thinks about mental health.

“Jigsaw is our innovative programme that works with communities to offer timely, accessible and appropriate, youth-friendly support for young people.

"Jigsaw centres exists in Meath, Galway, Roscommon, Donegal, Kerry, Offaly, North Fingal, Tallaght, Clondalkin and Dublin 15. But we want a Jigsaw in every community.”

Can u share #dcutv24 ? DCU is broadcasting for 24 hours straight in aid of Jigsaw, a mental health support for young people @MHReform

— Megan Roantree (@MeganRoantree) November 30, 2015

The society was selected as the winner of the ‘Best Society’ award at last year’s BICS awards and has, this year, received the backing of Bank of Ireland once again.

Bank of Ireland are delighted to be the title sponsors of the broadcast for the third consecutive year.

“Since 2007, all of our community investment has been channeled into facilitating and supporting employee volunteering and fundraising activities through the ‘Give Together’ initiative," says a Bank of Ireland spokesperson.

"Through this initiative, Bank of Ireland provides one day of paid leave to each employee every year to volunteer their time to a cause of their choice. We have also put in place an annual fund to allow the Bank to contribute to employee fundraising and support their volunteering.

"BOI DCU Staff look forward to Supporting & Creating Awareness for Jigsaw and mental illness in general, throughout the DCUtv 24 Hour Broadcast with DCU Media Production Society.”

The DCUtv and Bank of Ireland 24 Hour Broadcast in aid of Jigsaw begins at 9pm on Friday December 4.

How do you donate?

Donations can be made online through a my charity link which will be available on www.dcumps.com and you can get involved with broadcast on social media using the hashtag #DCUtv24.