Collecting for AWARE

A report from intrepid collector Siobhán Brady on her experience of helping raise money for Aware's annual Daisy Days:

Each year, Transition Year pupils spend a lot of their time taking part in fundraising for different charities. This year, our first event was for the charity AWARE. This charity helps people deal with depression.  I was in the first group to go fundraising on Grafton Street.

So on Thursday 15 September, Dearbhala Gernon, Harry Johnson, Melchior de Preville and I set out at 8:15 a.m. in the mini-bus to the Luas station in Dundrum, driven by Willie Gibbs. When we got into town on the Luas, a man from AWARE met us outside the St. Stephen's Green centre, armed with green boxes containing different coloured bracelets (which took us all of ten minutes to learn how to put on!) and bright yellow teeshirts which had the slogan "Daisy Days. Help AWARE to defeat depression" on them. 

We were immediately faced with competition from the Transition Year students of Terneure College who were collecting for Our Lady's Hospice. But, undaunted, we trooped down Grafton Street asking the same question over and over: "Would you like to buy a bracelet for AWARE?"

Some people were very generous, giving up to €20! Some were not so friendly but all of us kept a smile on our faces and wished them a nice day! Our hands and legs were sore from standing holding boxes which seemed to be  getting heavier and heavier over the three hours we were there, but it was all for a good cause.

At twelve o'clock, we signed off our names at the main desk and gave our boxes back to the man from AWARE. We got the Luas back to Windy Arbour where Mr Coldrick cheerfully met us and drove us back to school

I think this was a very worthwhile day. I liked the idea  of putting one new person in each group so we got to know each other better. My attitude has now completely changed towards anyone collecting for a charity on the streets of Dublin as I know how much it means to the collector when someone stops to donate with a smile on their face!