The AIB Community €1 Million Fund 2025

This video highlights Recovery Haven Kerry, a community-based cancer support service in Tralee, and its impact through the AIB Community €1 Million Fund. Hear from staff and volunteers about the vital services offered to patients and families, and how AIB’s support helps keep these services accessible across Kerry and beyond.

The video opens with the AIB logo and text: “Community €1 Million Fund - Recovery Haven Kerry.” Aerial shots show a sunrise over the Irish countryside. Inside a cozy living room, Gemma Fort, Manager of Recovery Haven Kerry, speaks to the camera. On-screen text identifies her name and role. She explains the free psychological, practical, and emotional support offered to cancer patients and families. Visuals include flowers and the exterior sign of Recovery Haven Kerry.

Next, older women chat around a table with food. Gemma’s voiceover describes volunteer involvement, noting many are cancer survivors. Shots show AIB colleagues participating in fundraising activities. Text highlights the €31,500 received through the AIB Community Fund.

Siobhan McSweeney, Client Services Coordinator, appears indoors, speaking about family-focused support. Visuals show mixed-age groups talking at tables. She lists services such as counselling, workshops for children, hydrotherapy classes, and walking groups.

Stephen Stack, AIB Branch Manager in Tralee, appears next, smiling and speaking warmly. Visuals show him walking with Gemma and Siobhan in a garden and entering the Recovery Haven building. He emphasizes the importance of AIB’s role in supporting local communities.

The video closes with a sunset landscape, the AIB logo, and text: “AIB - Supporting Communities.”

[AIB logo appears]

[Text on screen: “Community €1 Million Fund - Recovery Haven Kerry”]

[Aerial sunrise view of Irish landscape]

Recovery Haven Kerry is a cancer support house offering services to cancer patients, their families and carers.

[Cut to Gemma Fort standing in a living room, speaking to camera]

[Text on screen: “Gemma Fort - Manager, Recovery Haven Kerry”]

We provide psychological, practical, and emotional support.

[Visuals: flowers and exterior sign of Recovery Haven Kerry Cancer Support]

All our services are free of charge.
We’re based in Tralee but support communities across Kerry, North Cork, and West Limerick.
Recovery Haven was set up to be a community-based service — accessible and welcoming.

There’s a warmth here that makes the place special. Caring is in the walls of Recovery Haven.

[Cut to older women chatting at a table with food]

Many of our volunteers are cancer survivors themselves.
AIB colleagues have supported us through street collections and flag days as part of their corporate volunteering.
We’ve been blown away by the support under the AIB Community €1 Million Fund - €31,500 in total.
This funding will have a significant impact on the services we offer to vulnerable clients.

[Cut to Siobhan McSweeney speaking to camera]

[Text on screen: “Siobhan McSweeney - Client Services Coordinator”]

The funding helps us provide services directly to clients and families.
When cancer enters a home, it affects the whole family.
We offer group work for men and women, children’s workshops, counselling, hydrotherapy classes, walking groups.
This money is vital to keep our doors open and continue supporting the community.

[Cut to Stephen Stack speaking to camera]

[Text on screen: “Stephen Stack - Branch Manager, AIB Tralee”]

It was fantastic news when we heard Recovery Haven had been selected.
We met straight away to celebrate - it’s great validation for the work they do.
Beyond the financial impact, it gives confidence and recognition.
As Ireland’s largest financial institution, it’s important we support local communities through initiatives like this.

[Closing landscape shot with sunset]

[AIB logo appears]

[Text on screen: “AIB - Supporting Communities”]

End of video.

A video showcasing Lough Ree Access For All, a wheelchair-accessible boating charity supported by the AIB Community €1 Million Fund. Staff and partners discuss the charity’s mission while visuals show accessible boats, wheelchair users boarding via ramps, and AIB representatives engaging with the service.

The video opens with an aerial landscape of a river at sunrise, showing a boat travelling along the water. Over this, the AIB logo and Community €1 Million Fund branding appear beside the name “Lough Ree Access For All.” Throughout the video, scenes alternate between staff interviews filmed outdoors or on accessible boats, and footage of wheelchair users being guided onto the boat using ramps or hydraulic access systems.

Inside the charity’s facility (sponsored by DPD), viewers see staff preparing equipment, assisting clients in wheelchairs, and navigating the river on a specialised accessible vessel. Speakers describe the charity’s mission and the importance of accessibility and sensory experiences for visitors. The video also includes shots of AIB branches and staff engaging with the community. It ends with another aerial river shot and the AIB “Supporting Communities” logo.

[Aerial sunrise landscape over river with a boat moving along the water]

[AIB logo appears]

[Text on screen: “Community €1 Million Fund — Lough Ree Access For All”]

Lough Ree Access For All is a charity that opens up the waterway.

[Cut to Harry Sheehy seated on an accessible boat wearing a red life vest]

[Text on screen: “Harry Sheehy - Lough Ree Access For All”]

We are… well, we’re one of a kind.

[Cut to exterior of Lough Ree Access For All facility]

[Text on screen: “Kindly sponsored by DPD”]

[Cut to a woman pushing a man in a wheelchair through a park]

It’s like a picture that’s constantly changing — part of that sensory, relaxing experience.

[Cut to staff guiding the wheelchair user down the ramp and onto the accessible boat]

[Onboard footage of the boat travelling down the river]

[Cut to Mark McLean seated indoors]

[Text on screen: “Mark McLean - Lough Ree Access For All”]

We are actually one of a kind - providing wheelchair-accessible boat trips where the bow lowers for easy access.
We look after local communities, and also welcome visitors nationally and overseas.
Guests might be wheelchair users, have brain injuries, or come with families - it’s truly Access For All.

I’d definitely recommend other charities to apply for the AIB Community €1 Million Fund.
Our local AIB Roscommon branch team supported us through the process and really got behind us.

[Cut to a wheelchair user moving down a ramp into the boat, accompanied by a woman walking beside him]

We felt Lough Ree Access For All was such a worthy cause for this support.

[Cut to Carmel Riley walking onto the boat]

[Text on screen: “Carmel Riley - Branch Manager, AIB Roscommon”]

The community fund…
I’ve followed this charity for years and seen how the determination and grit of a small group created such an amazing facility here in the Midlands.

For AIB employees, being able to nominate charities for the Community Fund means we can do something - however small - for our local community.

[Cut back to Harry seated on the boat]

The AIB Community €1 Million Fund is going to be a huge help to us.
We hope to build a sensory area for guests who arrive stressed or anxious due to intellectual or physical disabilities.
This space will allow them to calm down before boarding the boat, making the experience much more enjoyable.

I’m very lucky to have probably the best job in the world.
We often have “goose-bump days” - moments when you see someone relax and transform.
They come on the boat nervous and leave like a different person.

[Aerial view of a boat travelling down the river at sunset]

[AIB logo appears]

[Text on screen: “AIB - Supporting Communities”]

End of video.