Women’s Fund for Ireland Issues €17,000 in Grants to Mark International Women’s Day

08 March 2011

To mark International Women’s Day, 8th March, The Community Foundation for Ireland announced the first round of grants from the Women’s Fund for Ireland. The fund, set up in mid 2010 now stands at a total value of €250,000. Ten grants are being announced today to a variety of women’s groups with a total value of €17,250.

Commenting on the first grants round, Tina Roche CEO of The Community Foundation for Ireland said “We are delighted to announce the first grants from the newly established Women’s Fund at The Community Foundation on International Women’s Day. All the grant recipients are very deserving, however, it has opened our eyes to level of need that there currently is in communities around Ireland to support Women’s causes. I want women and men throughout Ireland to consider supporting this fund as it is badly needed. The fund currently stands at €250,000 but the more funds we get in the more grants we can give out so we really want to drive people to consider the Women’s Fund if they are looking to engage in philanthropy or want to get involved in a charitable movement with long term goals.”

142 applications were received by The Community Foundation for the first round of grants, totaling a staggering €442,000 in potential grants. The Women’s Fund was only able to meet 7% of the demand. The second round of grants opens for applications in May and the demand is expected to be higher for the second round as word spreads about availability of the grants. Current priorities of the grants are aimed at preventing violence against women and also empowering women to take leadership roles in communities.

The Women’s Fund at The Community Foundation for Ireland, established by women for women, is the first of its kind in Ireland and is solely dedicated to supporting women’s causes and charitable initiatives across the country. The Fund tackles the problems facing women and girls in Ireland today by raising funds, promoting women’s organisations and raising awareness of the challenges facing women. The fund will be dedicated to supporting a number of varying women’s issues by giving small grants to enable positive change at the grassroots and tackle women’s inequality at its source. For more information on The Women’s Fund or to become a donor please see http://www.communityfoundation.ie

Grants issued ranged from €1,000-€5,000 and first round grant recipients are as follow:

An Cosán- To facilitate the relationship between grassroots women in West Tallaght and the local authority so that community needs and priorities are recognised and resourced. Platform for women to engage with decision makers.
Domestic Violence Response Ltd- to devise a handbook that addresses the parenting issues that arise in the context of the aftermath of domestic violence relationships, with the help of a focus group of parents and a child therapist/ counsellor.  
Irish Feminist Network- to create an online video aimed at chronicling the work of 5 young women across Ireland who are acting as feminist leaders in their community, to focus on their work across a range of leadership roles, both political and social and to empower young women’ s leadership. 
Meath Women's Refuge & Support Services- Pilot project to run a 26 week programme to address men's violence towards women, to challenge men's behaviour and secure the protection of women and children from further abuse and to provide partner support for 8 women who have been abused by a spouse .
Move Ireland- to give men a deeper understanding of their behaviour and help them stop acting in a violent or abusive manner. The programme will run for 6 months with emphasis on control issues, self esteem, responsibilities and past history.
 Rahoon Youth Project- to run a 6 week course on healthy relationships for young people to be run by Domestic Violence Response, in an out-of-school context and to help them recognise the early warning signs of an abusive relationship and take steps to avoid same.
 Tallaght Travellers Youth Service- to run a 10 week programme for young male Travellers, challenging their views on women, relationships and domestic violence. To help begin dealing with and preventing the perceived norm of domineering and violence to women .
Tipperary Regional Youth Service- The programme will help individuals to reflect on their styles of being as a family how to handle anger constructively and recognise different personalities. These women are the mothers of children targeted by the Family Support project. 
Women's Aid- To become a member of Language Line, to allow the helpline reach women experiencing domestic violence, for whom English is not their first language. Support workers would be able to support women to maximise their safety. 
Youth Work Ireland- A young mothers group to devise a campaign to lobby local businesses and politicians to provide services such as baby changing and breast feeding facilities in the community, also to raise their awareness of local political structures.