London Irish Centre's 'Charity Night In' to feature Niall Horan, Gavin James, Lisa Hannigan, Imelda May, Loah and more

The London Irish Centre has announced the London Irish Charity Night In this Thursday, June 11 at 8pm to raise funds for the centre's community services.

Among the well-known Irish names joining the event are Niall Horan, Dermot O'Leary, Laura Whitmore, Imelda May, Lisa Hannigan, Loah, The Blizzards, Maverick Sabre, Dara O'Briain and Robert Sheehan, with more to be announced.

The event will be streamed on the London Irish Centre’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

The night of music, interviews and conversation with Irish celebrities from across the UK and Ireland will include a charity auction, featuring great prizes from Ed Sheeran and others.

The event is being produced with supporting partner The Lock Inn, an online events venue.

Speaking about the 'Charity Night In', London Irish Centre patron Dermot O'Leary expressed the need to support smaller communities during the pandemic.

"I am very proud to be patron of The London Irish Centre. The LIC does amazing work across London, and right now, they need our support. As it’s not possible to run our usual fundraising events, I’m thrilled that our friends and supporters are joining us for a little online fundraising adventure!"

The LIC has been providing community services and Irish culture to London since 1954 and the Covid-19 crisis has had a huge effect on its capacity to provide this support, especially to London’s large older, vulnerable Irish community.

The doors of the Centre have been closed since March 18 and reshaped its services, increasing web and telephone support to deliver over 1,100 advice sessions and 1,000 health check-in calls, training up over 30 telephone befrienders, engaging over 200 volunteers, providing over 2,000 hot meals and food parcels to the community and shielding the vulnerable in Camden.

A curated series of online culture and community - the 'SOLAS Season' - has been announced to keep everyone connected and inspired in these hard times, with concerts, storytelling, talks and classes all featured.

Much like all charities, the Centre has felt a significant financial loss with the cancellation of several large fundraising events, and the necessity to raise funds for the LIC and its community is now more important than ever.

Throughout the 'Charity Night In', the LIC hope to raise £100,000 for the older Irish community it supports.

Ellen Ryan, CEO at The London Irish Centre said:

"I am so proud of the way we have all pulled together as a community through this crisis," Ellen Ryan, CEO of the London Irish Centre said.

"Staff, volunteers and our friends have worked hand in hand to ensure that we deliver the services and cultural output needed to enable the community to feel a sense of hope and resilience for the future. We have also received crucial support from the Irish Government and Irish Embassy, London. This very special event is your opportunity to join us and support our essential work to enable us to continue our recovery into the future."

Watch the event on the LIC Facebook page or YouTube channel.