Dublin Bus has teamed up with homeless charity Depaul to encourage you to get families home this Christmas. The campaign aims to raise awareness of family homelessness and will feature on 75 buses during the Christmas period.

The charity has revealed it has supported almost 300 children and 422 families during the Covid period through a number of different services. These include children and families residing in direct provision, living in hotels and through the charities accommodation and community based services. The charity also revealed they have supported 127 families to move away from homelessness during this period.

Depaul CEO David Carroll says;

“We are really grateful to Dublin Bus for supporting our vital work. Christmas time is a time we all associate with home and being with family. Unfortunately for many families that will not be a reality this year.

“We are asking the public to help support our vital work with families this Christmas. Depaul has supported a huge number of families to move away from homelessness this year but we can do more.”

Speaking on the collaboration Dublin Bus CEO Ray Coyne says;

“We are proud to partner with Depaul and raise awareness of family homelessness at Christmas. This Christmas, we wanted to help support a dedicated organisation which is helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society who have been made more vulnerable by this pandemic."

In 2019 Depaul supported 1,088 children, an increase 23.5% on the previous year. In addition, the charity helped 454 families through their accommodation and community based services. The most recent homeless figures showed that there were 1,117 families and 2,642 children homeless in Ireland.

To support Depaul’s work you can Text DEPAUL to 50300 to donate €4. To find out more about Depaul you can visit Depaul Charity.