Dell EMC Ireland COE welcomes Barnardos to Cork Campus #LegacyofGood

Dell EMC Ireland COE was delighted to welcome Fergus Finlay, CEO of Barnardos Ireland, to our Ovens campus on 8th June 2017. The aim of the visit was to give team members an overview of the great work that Barnardos does in Ireland, and how Dell EMC is supporting these activities.

In a frank ‘fire-side’ type chat with Bob Savage, VP Dell EMC Centres of Excellence in EMEA, Fergus shared his own career history and how he came to work with Barnardos. It was truly a humbling experience to hear the individual stories that Fergus shared from over 12 years with Barnardos, and how this charity has changed children’s lives for the better. Following this deeply engaging conversation, and a brief Dell EMC TV interview, Fergus had a tour of the Campus in Ovens.

On 12th April 2017 Dell EMC Ireland announced a three year partnership with Barnardos. The partnership, which involves the provision of financial support as well as the sharing of employee expertise, skills and the volunteering of time, is designed to support the good work and continued vision of Barnardos.

Dell EMC, together with employees in Cork, Limerick and Dublin, will work with the team at Barnardos to help raise the profile of the charity’s National Collection Day. The annual collection day which takes place every September has significant potential to help raise much needed funds for children as well as to raise the profile of the valuable work that Barnardos is doing in communities across the country. The Dell EMC team will help publicise the flagship day to enhance its reach through the provision of technical support and advice. Hundreds of Dell EMC employees are expected to take to the streets in Dublin, Cork and Limerick to dramatically increase the number of collection points and thus help to raise more funds.

Both organisations also plan to work together to address the growing digital divide that exists in Irish society. Barnardos has a network of well-established homework clubs and friendship clubs throughout the country. Working with Dell EMC, they plan to introduce a number of Code Work Clubs introducing technical literacy and coding skills to children who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to learn what is increasingly becoming a core life skill.

Bob Savage also shared his thoughts behind the strategic partnership announcement with Barnardos and you can read his blog here.

You can learn more about Barnardos and the great work they do here.

I truly believe this is an excellent and very worthwhile way to embrace how we at Dell achieve our Legacy of Good goals and also highlights how we can #GoBigWinBig! So why not get involved and help make a change for the better!