About Variety

Formed in 1954, Variety Ireland  has made a real difference to children's lives throughout Ireland. There are never enough resources to answer every appeal, but thanks to your generous donations, Variety Ireland has been able to spend the last 50 years helping where help is needed.

How it all works
When the founding fathers of Variety first constituted the charity in the States in the 1920s, they came up with a structure that provided a blueprint for Variety the Children’s Charity all over the world. Based on the language of fairgrounds and carnivals, Variety Club still uses terms that may seem something of a mystery to those who know little about the charity.

For example, the main 'board' of the charity, consisting of trustees and others, is called the Crew, named after those who erected the old circus tents or nowadays provide the various technical experts to make a film or stage a live production. The 'chairman' of the board is called the Chief Barker, the name of the man who drummed up punters at the fairground.

The important thing is that all these people are volunteers who expect absolutely nothing in return for the time, effort and money they put into the charity. But it's worth it - every time you see a smile on the face of a child the charity has helped.

Tent 41, as the Irish charity is known, is one of more than 50 'tents' throughout the world, including the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel, Barbados and France.