Philip is chairperson of Preda Galway and Preda-Ireland. He is very active in organizing events to support the work of Preda Philippines in protecting and helping children at grave risk.His wide range of friends and contacts in the sports, and entertainment world has raised awareness of the plight of children at risk nationwide in Ireland. His recent letter announces how readers and supporters in Ireland can travel to Galway and join in the fun and worthy activities and help the great work of protecting children.

Shay Cullen Mssc Founder and President of Preda

Hi, All, Hope all is well. Just a brief email letting you know about some of the PREDA actions taking place in Galway in the coming weeks. PREDA's "Freedom Weekend" is taking place on March the 1st. Athletics legend Catherina McKiernan, comedian Maeve Higgins and members of the All-Ireland winning Galway camogie squads will be fronting the 5k "Run for Freedom" at 12 noon on March the 1st at Ballybrit racecourse in Galway city. The run will be followed by Maeve Higgins' "Fun for Freedom" comedy night in the Galway city live venue the Róisín Dubh at 8.30 that night. There is a reduction in ticket prices for the comedy night for all "Freedom Runners". All profits will be used to support the children rescued by PREDA in typhoon affected areas and from various forms of child exploitation in the Philippines.

Registration for the "Run for Freedom" is now being taken on : www.runireland.com Tickets for the "Fun for Freedom" night can be purchased on : www.roisindubh.net I am aware that these are all Galway based events and that we are trying to wien the message of PREDA to a national audience. In the case of the run and comedy night both Catherina and Maeve wanted to base them in Galway. James Fitzgerald, PREDA Galway IT, has revamped the PREDA Galway web site but it is planned to change this to PREDA Ireland in the coming months when we are ready for a formal launch. Any content, images, stories or suggestions can e-mailed to me and we will put them up. It is envisaged that this will web site will be similar to a development education and action website for students and supporters alike to follow our work. Checkout the web site on : www.predagalway.org A PREDA Ireland Twitter account has also been set up and if anyone wants to include content for the feed I will pass on username etc. The Twitter account is linked to the PREDA Galway web site and is being supported by Catherina and Maeve among others. Breege Gilmartin of PREDA Galway manages the account. PREDA Galway also has an active Facebook and here again we want this to evolve to a PREDA Ireland account. Check it out and any suggestions you may have or material will be included by Anne Marie Doyle PREDA Galway Facebook manager. If you can Facebook the "Freedom weekend" information etc that would be great. We are also receiving strong support from Carambola, the school lunch suppliers. Their web site is : http://www.carambola.ie/ They are supporting four charities as part of the Carambola Foundation and PREDA is one of them. Our logo and website address is on over 22,000 lunch bags a day and we expect this relationship to develop in the coming years. (www.preda.org)

This is the link to Maeve Higgins' Podcast from the Ray D'Arcy Show a few weeks ago when they promote PREDA for a few minutes: http://www.todayfm.com/player/podcasts/The_Ray_DArcy_Show/Ray_DArcy_Show/9440/0/maeve_higgins Their is a link on the PREDA Galway web site for a Junior Cert based CSPE Human Rights pack developed a few years ago by Preda Galway Education officers, Orla Fitzpatrick, Ursula Keane and Orla Purcell. It encourages Junior Cert children to engage in an action for PREDA and is available in both Irish and English which is probably the only bilingual pack of its kind in the country. A class of CSPE students in Galway Community College raised 587 Euro through an action theme "Small Change Big Change" campaign where they collected small amounts of change. This resulted in students giving more than they normally would!

If you have any questions or suggestions as to how we can develop we can all communicate with each other and support ideas and actions. Take care and will be in touch, Philip Philip Cribbin Chairperson PREDA Galway Support Committee Chairperson PREDA Ireland Mobile: 0872482770 Email: predagalway@gmail.com www.preda.org www.predagalway.org