Christmas FM is back today for a special one day live broadcast to kick off the 100 day countdown to Christmas.
The festive station is also running a competition for one primary school class to officially ‘Switch Christmas On’ across the airwaves for 2024.
The winning class will be featured in the official Christmas FM 2024 photoshoot, which the station says will be a magical experience filled with festive fun and merriment. Additionally, a live link up will also take place at the winning class in November, coinciding with Christmas FM’s return to the airwaves.
The competition is open to primary school classes nationwide and closes at 10:00am on Monday 23rd September.
Christmas FM, which is celebrating 17 years on air this year, has also confirmed ‘The Magic of Christmas’ fundraising appeal will be returning for its third year to raise money for three of Ireland’s leading children’s charities – Barnardos, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish Ireland and a range of children’s charities around Ireland making a difference in local communities through Community Foundation Ireland.
The Magic of Christmas was launched in 2022, with the aim of raising €1,000,000 over a three-year period for the charities.
So far, The Magic of Christmas fundraising appeal has raised €618,706 for the charities between 2022 and 2023, with these funds being used for a range of services which include: providing hot nutritious meals for children, support for families facing the cost-of-living crisis, wishes for children living with life-threatening illnesses across Ireland, and hundreds of hours of therapeutic programmes for children.
Garvan Rigby, co-founder of Christmas FM, said: “For all of us at Christmas FM, it’s never too early to talk about Christmas! We can’t wait to ‘Switch Christmas On’ with help from one special primary school class this year. It’s a great prize, and we’re excited to see which school will win.
“We are also delighted to be working alongside Barnardos, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish Ireland and Community Foundation Ireland again this year for the third year of The Magic of Christmas fundraising appeal. We know that we can count on our incredible Christmas FM listeners to support these charities and donate to help us reach our target of €1,000,000 raised for children in need.”