‘Dublin Amber Friendship Week’ launched

Comedian Neil Delamere is calling on people throughout Dublin to gather their friends and head to their local pub next week in support of Alone, the charity that supports older people to age at home.

Dublin Amber Friendship Week, the Licensed Vintners Association’s community initiative, takes place in over 300 pubs in Dublin from next Sunday 24^th to Saturday 30^th September.

The LVA, representing 600 Dublin publicans, has raised €100,000 for Alone so far this year and hopes to raise significant funds through Dublin Amber Friendship Week.

To support the initiative, Guinness has brewed a limited-edition Dublin Amber Pale Ale and a joint donation of 50 Cent for each pint of Dublin Amber sold in participating pubs will be made to Alone by Guinness and the publican to support the expansion of its Befriending Service. Alone has doubled in size in the last four years as demand for assistance has tripled. The number of volunteers has also tripled in response.

Alone’s Befriending Service provides companionship to socially isolated older people through a weekly volunteer visit. There will also be Alone collection buckets in a number of participating pubs throughout the week.

“It’s a great excuse to head down to the local with your friends, have a pint and raise money for a great cause,” said Neil Delamere, speaking at today’s launch in Dublin.

LVA Chairman John Gleeson explained how the LVA partnership with Alone came about.

“Last year, when we were discussing what charity to support during our Bicentenary year, we came across Neil discussing Alone’s Christmas campaign on ‘Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge’ and it really struck a chord with us,” he said, “Given that Dublin Amber has only been available for a couple of months, we’re delighted with the funds raised so far and will be relying on the public to help us reach our ambitious target of €200,000 by the end of our Bicentenary Year.”

Dublin Amber is available on draught in hundreds of pubs across Dublin for a limited time.

For more information on Dublin Amber Friendship Week and participating pubs please follow @LVADublinPubs on Twitter or visit www.facebook.com/LicensedVintnersAssociation.

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