Circle K: A new currency to fuel Ireland's Olympic athletes

As part of Circle K's 'Here for Ireland’' sponsorship of Team Ireland, JWT Folk has developed a unique local currency to support Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

The Local Currency is a technologically innovative programme that gives communities around Ireland a role to play in supporting Team Ireland, leveraging data, technology and community spirit in a way never seen before.

In Ireland, athletes who dream of competing at the Olympics or Paralympics have more than athleticism and qualification to contend with. With low levels of funding compared with many of their international competitors and training schedules and commitments taking up the majority of their time, many athletes struggle to stay afloat financially. And with the games now being postponed to 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, this will only serve to exacerbate this struggle for our athletes.

The Local Currency is generated by the community to help fuel their local Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Utilising Circle K's existing Play or Park loyalty functionality, it enables customers to collect points for themselves with the added functionality of generating unique 'coins' for their local Olympic and Paralympic athletes to spend on fuel, food and drink in-store.

To date, almost 90% of Team Ireland athletes have signed up and benefitted from this new currency already.

Karl Waters, Creative Partner at JWT Folk, said: "We wanted to unite the communities Circle K serves with the athletes who represent our country and that’s what this activation is all about. Now Irish people can play a role in Team Ireland's Olympic preparation. And Circle K plays a role in both Irish communities and the team's preparation, by being Here for Ireland."

MJ Tierney, Media Director at Circle K Europe, added: "In every community of Ireland, you'll find a Circle K. You’ll find them in the very places our Olympic and Paralympic athletes train. Our athletes have started their journey to Tokyo 2020, and we are here for their journeys, just like we are here for all the journeys Irish people take. Through this sponsorship our goal is to create a true connection between the brand, the athletes and the people of Ireland – so we are delighted to see so many Team Ireland benefit from the initiative."