Urban Uplift Fund in Ireland

Deadline: 6-Oct-22

Rethink Ireland and JPMorgan open €660,000 ‘Urban Uplift Fund’ to support organisations tackling unemployment among young adults in Dublin.

The objective of the Fund is to back innovative projects working towards youth employment and/or youth employability in Dublin’s most disadvantaged areas.

The Fund will aim to empower up to 120 young adults into jobs, apprenticeships or work experience programmes in the green and/or digital economy. In addition, it will aim to enable up to 75 young adults to complete certified training and up to 80 to progress on to further education.

Funding Information

• Cash grants up to €55,000 each year across 2 years.

Eligibility Criteria

• This fund is open to organisations that have a not-for-profit legal form, e.g. charity, social enterprise and other voluntary organisations.
• Projects must meet both Rethink Ireland’s criteria and the specific criteria for The Urban Uplift Fund, as set out:
  • Rethink Ireland Criteria
    • The project must address a critical social issue
    • The project proposed must be innovative in an Irish context
    • The project must be based on the island of Ireland and must make its impact in Dublin
    • The project must have potential and a desire to scale or replicate in Ireland (it may also have potential internationally, but this is not a requirement)
    • The project must provide evidence that it is up and running, or has been tested at least in a minimal way
    • Applicants must come from an entity that has a not-for-profit legal form, eg:
      • A company limited by guarantee
      • A co-operative
      • Charity
      • And other not for profit legal forms.
  • The Urban Uplift Fund Criteria
    • The Urban Uplift Fund Criteria Applicants to the Urban Uplift Fund must be operating and make their impact in Dublin City.
    • Projects/Organisations will:
      • Focus on young adults aged 18-30 experiencing socio-economic disadvantage
      • Provide a holistic wrap-around response to addressing the range of internal and external factors relevant to bringing young people closer to the labour market
      • Support young people aged 18-30 into quality employment and/or apprenticeship programmes and/or full-time & paid work placements for young adults aged 18 – 30 through accredited and/or non-accredited training
      • Projects and/or organisations that actively engage with young adults experiencing disadvantage in the design of their programmes.
      • Projects and/or organisations whose are focused on the Green Transition/ Economy;
      • Projects and/or organisations whose activities address the digital divide and the impact of inequality of access to technology.
  • The Urban Uplift Advantageous Criteria
    • Projects and/or organisations that are led by a member of their end-beneficiary community.

Note: You cannot use the grant to pay off debts or buy land, buildings or equipment and it cannot be used for subsistence or scholarship payments to beneficiaries.

For more information, visit https://rethinkireland.ie/current_fund/urban-uplift-fund/