I was honoured this week to present funding awards to five Awardees to develop projects under the Engage & Educate Fund 2019.
The Awardees will share €150,000 as part of the three-year €450,000 fund established in 2017 by business law firm Mason, Hayes and Curran and Social Innovation Fund Ireland (SIFI) with support from my Department, the Department of Rural and Community Development, via the Dormant Accounts Fund.
The Engage & Educate Fund provides support to projects that empower people through education to achieve their full potential and to contribute to their communities.
The five successful awardees included projects that address the lack of third level education and employment opportunities available to adults with intellectual disabilities and the
challenges Traveller children face in mainstream schools.
In addition, each organisation will participate in an Accelerator Programme that provides mentoring, tailored training, bespoke business supports and access to a peer network.
One of this year’s Awardees, Write to Read, has already helped 4,200 children through their high-quality literacy programme and with the new investment from the Engage & Educate Fund, they are aiming to develop a three-year strategy to scale the programme to a national level.
Another Awardee, Teen Turn, has provided hands-on learning and ongoing skills development to 31 girls in or completing secondary school and with the support of the Engage & Educate Fund, they will be able to reach out to rural girls interested in STEM subjects, increase participation numbers and develop a communications platform for their Alumni and mentors.
Excluding the projects announced today, in the first two years of the Engage & Educate Fund, eight projects, whose activities range from teaching English to migrants to drama skills for those with intellectual disabilities, received over €300,000 in cash and business supports.
As a result, these organisations, with operations in 10 counties across Ireland, have delivered services to 2,000 people, expanded their operations and secured over €700,000 in follow-on funding.
The achievements of each of the Awardees is truly inspiring. Each project is helping progress various groups to higher levels of education and setting them up with a
greater chance of full-time employment. The wide diversity of projects being awarded was great to see.
The 2019 Engage & Educate Fund Awardees were:
● Blue Diamond Drama Academy, a project that addresses the lack of third level education and employment opportunities available to adults with intellectual disabilities;
● MUSIKA Programme, a programme which addresses the challenges of opportunity and interaction for the Asylum Seeker and Refugee community in Waterford.
● Early Family Programme, a project created as a result of concerns for challenges Traveller children face in mainstream schooling.
● Teen Turn, a programme that provides role models and hands-on experience to teenage girls from disadvantaged communities in order to encourage and enable the kind of school performances that lead to post-secondary STEM courses and qualifications.
● Write to Read, a professional development project that supports teachers to design and deliver high-quality literacy programmes for children in DEIS schools.
Each successful applicant receives access to the Accelerator Programme that provides mentoring, tailored training, bespoke business supports, and access to a peer network.