The Disability Participation and Awareness Fund in Ireland

Deadline: 31-Mar-23

Rethink Ireland is pleased to announce Disability Participation and Awareness Fund, a €3 million, 1-year Fund created by Rethink Ireland in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY).

Goal

The goal of the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund is to support innovative projects or organisations across Ireland to:

Build skills and remove barriers to help people with disabilities take part in their communities,
Provide valuable employment experience to people with disabilities, and
Support the overall participation of people with disabilities in local activities, in line with the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in communities.

Strands

Each of the four strands has a different focus, and different application criteria. The areas of focus, and application criteria for each strand are:

Strand 1: Building skills and removing barriers to help people with Down Syndrome take part in their communities.
- To apply for funding under strand 1, your project or organisation must:
  - Implement activities that help people with Down Syndrome take part in in their communities through building skills and removing barriers, and
  - Have a person-centred, rights-based approach
Strand 2: Social enterprise initiatives to provide valuable employment experience to people with disabilities.
- To apply for funding under strand 2, your project or organisation must:
  - Be a social enterprise,
  - Work with people over 18 and with a disability to progress into paid, dignified, inclusive employment or apprenticeships. You must be able to show how your project or organisation helps people to achieve key outcomes (for example, how to access job placement, work experience or apprenticeships), and
  - Have a person-centred, rights-based approach.
Strand 3: Arts and cultural activities, particularly those that promote awareness of the lived experiences of people with disabilities and that support the participation of people with disabilities in artistic, cultural, and community life.
- To apply for funding under strand 3, your project or organisation must:
  - Work to provide increased opportunities for participation in arts and cultural activities, including arts or cultural activities that promote awareness of the lived experiences of people with disabilities, and
  - Have a person-centred, rights-based approach.
Strand 4: Initiatives aimed at encouraging community participation and inclusion for people with disabilities, including sports and outdoor recreation, promotion of accessibility and accessible shared spaces.
- To apply for strand 4, your project or organisation must work to provide increased opportunities for:
  - Encouraging community participation, and/or
  - Engagement in sporting activities, outdoor recreation, and/or
  - The promotion of accessibility and accessible shared spaces, and
  - Have a person centred, rights-based approach.

Funding Information

Cash grants ranging from €50,000 to €500,000 during the year, across 6 months.
A business supports package.
A place on the capacity-building accelerator programme.
Project performance management.

Eligible Projects

Projects must meet both Rethink Ireland’s criteria and the specific criteria for the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund, as set out below:

Rethink Ireland criteria:

The project must address a critical social or environmental issue.
The project must be innovative in an Irish context.
The project must be based in the Republic of Ireland.
The project must have the potential and desire to scale (grow) or be copied in Ireland.
The project must provide evidence that it is up and running, or has at least been tested in a minimal way.
Applicants must come from an entity that has a not-for-profit legal form (for example, a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organisation).