In an intimate room at Waterford’s Shush Bar on Wednesday, agents and staff from Strand Travel, Icon Travel, Harvey Travel, Best4Travel, Marble City Travel and Travel Centres were treated to an informative, fun, prize-filled evening.
Kicking off the proceedings, Craig Donnelly of Accident & General welcomed the enthusiastic crowd and invited Carrie Day, trustee of the ITAA Benevolent Fund, to say a few words about the Fund.
Carrie spoke briefly on a number of important points about the ITAA Benevolent Fund and the ways in which it can assist travel industry colleagues and ex-colleagues who may be in financial difficulty.
She advised that the ITAA Benevolent Fund can help with mortgage or rent payments, counselling services, utility bills, financial advice and accommodations or adaptations needed for individuals with disabilities, to name a few. She also encouraged attendees to help spread the word of the Fund and to remind old colleagues, regardless of whether they still work within the industry, that they can still avail of assistance, provided the travel agency they worked at, was once an ITAA member.
Carrie advised agents to join the Benevolent Fund’s Facebook group to stay up to date with the Fund’s latest news – https://www.facebook.com/groups/itaabenevolentfund – and advised that all trustee details are on their website – www.ITAABenevolentFund.com. All requests are dealt with in the strictest of confidence by the board of trustees.
Frances Grogan, of Grogan Travel in Tuam and trustee of the Benevolent Fund, also spoke at the TSN Roadshow in Athlone and Maria Dilworth of Blackpool Travel (also a trustee), spoke in Cork on Thursday.
The Travel Suppliers Network is made up on Jenny Neenan from Breakaway.ie, Tom Maher of JMG Cruises, Jason Kearns of Etihad, Michelle Ryan of Royal Caribbean, Tony Flynn of Nebo Tours, Don Clarke of Stuba, Iain Baillie of Stena Line, Annmarie Durkin of Sunway, Danny Giles of Ponant, and, of course, Craig Donnelly of Accident & General.
The ITAA Benevolent Fund would like to extend their sincere thanks to the Travel Suppliers Network for their support and to all agents in attendance for their attention and enthusiasm.
